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HEALING  POWER  OF  MIND. 


A    TREATISE    OX    MIND-CURE,    WITH    ORIGINAL    VIEWS    ON 

THE    SUBJECT,    AND    COMPLETE    INSTRUCTIONS    FOR 

PRACTICE,    AND    SELF-TREATMENT. 


BY 


JULIA    ANDERSON    ROOT. 


Man  is  the  greatest  fact  in  Nature, 
Mind  is  the  greatest  fact  in  Man." 


OF  THK 

UNIVERSITY 


SAN  FRANCISCO  : 

CO-OPEBATTVE  PRINTING  OFFICE,  424  MONTGOMERY  STREET. 
1884. 


COPYRIGHT. 

AUGUST,  1884. 


PREFACE. 


The  mind-cure  is  just  now  exciting  a  great  deal  of  public  interest. 
Within  these  last  few  years  several  books  have  been  published  on  the 
subject,  and  we  have  decided  to  add  to  the  number.  Our  reasons  for 
doing  so  are,  that  we  hold  some  views  different  from  any  that  have 
hitherto  been  printed,  and,  further,  we  wish  to  place  before  readers 
certain  facts  and  principles  that  will  enable  them  to  successfully  treat 
themselves.  We  have  given  several  chapters  on  subjects  that  have  a 
bearing  upon,  and  are  intimately  related  to,  mental  healing.  These 
chapters  are  intended  in  some  instances  to  be  more  suggestive  than 
exhaustive,  but  we  are  nevertheless  led  to  believe  that  they  will  in  all 
cases  prove  instructive.  ^  ,  . 

"  Mental  healing,"  "  mind-cure,"  "  metaphysical  science,"  or  by 
whatever  name  it  may  be  known,  is  not  a  new  system.  In  all  ages  of 
the  world  there  have  been  persons  who  have  cured  diseases  that  learned 
medical  practitioners  have  pronounced  incurable.  These  cases  have 
been  effected  by  the  power  of  mind,  and  we  are  confident  from  our 
own  experience,  that  the  more  this  invisible  agent  is  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  human  system,  the  less  sickness  and  suffering  we  shall  have 
in  the  world.  We  expect  the  aid  and  co-operation  of  our  churches, 
irrespective  of  sec.t,  and,  in  fact,  of  good  and  intelligent  people  every- 
where, in  our  efforts  to  lessen  the  sum  of  human  misery  and  woe.  It 
is  sad  to  see  the  lives  of  so  many  of  God's  children  embittered  by 
disease,  when  the  remedy  lies  in  their  own  hands.  Each  and  all  can  do 
something  towards  remedying  this  state  of  things.  Our  efforts  we  feel 
will  be  crowned  with  at  least  as  much  success  in  the  future  as  they  have 

been  in  the  past. 

JULIA  ANDERSON  ROOT. 

SAN  FRANCISCO, 

August  ist,  1884. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

GOD  AND  CREATION. 

PAGE 

What  is  Creation  ? — Searches  in  the  wrong  direction — The  material  world 
cannot  answer — The  invisible  solves  the  problem — Creation  eternal  and 
infinite — The  personality  of  God — Man  created  after  the  image  of  God 
— The  majesty  of  the  soul — Nature  an  effect  of  God I 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  EVIL. 

Account  in  Genesis  not  accepted — Pope's  argument  not  satisfactory — The 
dualistic  theory — Milton's  argument  a  failure — Evil  a  necessity  of  crea- 
tion— Christ's  saying — Man  must  transgress — Punishment  for  wrong 
doing  a  necessity 9 

MIND  AND   MATTER. 

Berkeley's  views — What  matter  is — What  pain  is — Sound — The  eye  does  not 
see,  nor  the  ear  hear — Nerves  have  no  feeling — Matter  has  no  intelli- 
gence, sensation  or  feeling — Brain,  not  the  organ  of  the  mind — The  in- 
visible governs  matter — Mind,  a  picture  gallery — The  silent  power  of 
mind — Mind  endows  matter  with  sensation — The  immortal  mind,  and 
the  mortal  mind — Impressions  last  beyond  death 15 

THINGS  SEEN  AND  UNSEEN. 

The  egotist — The  forces  of  Nature  are  unseen — The  germ,  acorn,  telegraph 
and  magnet — Unseen  living  things — Sight  to  be  corrected  by  thought — 
Vision  alone  not  to  be  trusted  21 

MAN'S  RELATION  TO  GOD  AND  CREATION. 

The  influence  of  man  on  Creation— Creation  not  made  solely  for  man — 
Nothing  created  in  vain — Man's  arrogance — The  power  of  mind — The 
influence  of  faith— What  Christ  meant  by  faith — Can  we  do  as  Christ 
did 25 


VI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

THE  MISSION  AND  DUTY  OF  MAN. 

Useless  to  consult  the  material— The  intuition— Man's  innate  belief— The 
creating  power  not  malignant— Man  compelled  to  believe  in  goodness — 
Man  placed  in  the  world  to  perform  a  task — God  the  Great  Architect. . .  31 

POWER  OF  MIND  OVER  BODY. 

Cause  and  effect — Mind  a  first  cause — Mind  has  properties  peculiar  to  itself — 
Power  of  mind — A  learned  physician's  opinion — Homoeopath  and  allopath 
— Professor  Charcot  on  magnets — A  man  supposed  he  was  bleeding  to 
death — An  English  physician's  opinion — More  killed  by  fear  than  by 
disease 35 

LAWS  OF  NATURE. 

Objections  to  mind-cure — Work  in  accordance  with  laws  of  nature — Defini- 
tion of  laws  of  nature — What  is  uniformity — Laws  of  mind  can  override 
laws  of  matter — Nothing  impossible 43 

DISEASE  AND  ITS  REMEDIES. 

Disease  defined — Matter  ignored  as  a  curative  agent — All  things  resolved 
into  a  few  principles — Change  in  the  theory  of  color — Technical  terms 
serve  to  mystify — Pathology  and  therapeutics — Dr.  Rush— Dr.  Mason 
Good — Dr.  Waterhouse— Dr.  Johnson— The  worship  of  drugs 47 

SCRIPTURAL  ARGUMENTS. 

Bishop  Cumberland's  liberality— Christ's  teaching  of  faith— Quotations  from 
Scripture  concerning  cures — Christ's  cures  not  miracles — Christ's  follow- 
ers cure  diseases — Use  of  drugs  condemned  by  Bible 53 

DECLARATION  OF  PRINCIPLES. 

Strictures  of  San  Francisco  Bulletin— Our  letter  to  Bulletin — The  Editor's 
reply— Man  mysteriously  connected  with  his  fellows— Opinion  of  Pytha- 
gores. 63 

HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY. 

The  prevalence  of  disease— Mother's  influence  on  children— Montaigne's 
opinion— Peculiar  cases  of  heredity— Dr.  Howe  on  drinking  habits- 
Robert  Collyer's  Sermon— Duration  of  life  in  animals  and  in  men— Old 
age,  when  desirable 73 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  HEALING. 

PAGE 

Principles  must  be  mastered — Innate  consciousness — Physical  body  a  corre- 
spondence— Mind  distinct  from  body — How  to  talk  to  patients — Healers 
must  have  no  doubt — Avoid  discussion  with  some  patients — Much  not 
understood — Blindness  cured — Freedom  of  will — Huxley's  opinion — 
Patients  should  be  taught  the  science — The  book  of  the  heart — M. 
Reveille-Parise  on  Moral  Therapeutics — The  sarcasm  of  drug-men — 
Nerve  required  in  mind-healers — Missionary  spirit  needed 83 

PROGRESS. 

What  is  progress  ? — Bishop  Heber — What  true  progress  means — The  possible 
faculties  of  man — Man  an  unfolding  being — Hepler's  discovery — Gilbert's 
perception — Change,  not  progress — Improvement  of  internal  man — 
Brighter  day  for  humanity — Importance  of  work 98 

EDUCATION  OF  MOTHERS. 

Importance  of  maternity — Herbert  Spencer's  remarks — Decrease  of  maternity 
and  increase  of  abortion — Horses  and  dogs  thought  more  of  than  men  — 
The  child  not  the  exclusive  property  of  its  parents — Fathers  responsible 
for  disposition  of  children — Infantile  diseases  prevented  or  cured — A  race 
of  superior  beings 105 

SPIRITUALISM. 

No  controversy  with  spiritualists — The  Divine  Fountain  the  source  of  healing 
— We  are  all  spirits — The  laying  on  of  hands — Why  we  cannot  define 
mind — The  doctors  in  the  other  world 109 

ANTIQUITY  OF  MIND  CURE. 

The  mind-cure  as  old  as  the  human  race — Opposition  of  medical  practitioners 
— The  pedantry  of  some  medical  men — The  use  of  technical  terms — 
Simplicity  needed — Dr.  Park  Quimby--A  Boston  journal's  description — 
An  anecdote  of  Dr.  Quimby — Mind-cure  amongst  ancient  nations 113 

EFFICACY  OF  PRAYER. 

What  is  prayer  ? — Good  and  bad  prayers — Conventional  blasphemy — What 
prayers  will  be  answered — All  men  pray — Man  made  better  by  praying 
--Is  prayer  a  force — Prayer  and  labor  both  needed — The  three  graces. .  121 


CONTENTS. 
PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE. 

PAGE 

Investigations— Cured  of  diphtheria — Neuralgia  cured — A  lady  given  up  by 
physicians — A  perfect  cure — A  case  of  salivation  abandoned  by  physi- 
cians, but  completely  cured  by  mind  treatment — Several  testimonials 
from  patients  cured  when  their  cases  were  considered  hopeless — No 
cause  for  despair 125 

INSANITY. 

The  line  between  sanity  and  insanity  cannot  be  drawn — Advanced  sanity 
called  insanity — Arkwright  and  Fulton  deemed  insane — Medical  men 
can  give  us  no  rules — Insanity  has  many  causes — Is  often  inherited — 
Asylums  do  not  cure  insanity — Try  the  mind-cure 133 

NECESSITY  OF  CONDITIONS. 

Conditions  must  be  complied  with — Our  imperfect  knowledge  necessitates 
conditions — Mind  makes  conditions  unnecessary — Argument  from  the 
inebriate — Drainage,  food  and  air  must  receive  attention — The  cholera 
in  France — Killed  by  fear — Mind  the  great  preventive 137 

QUESTIONS  AND   ANSWERS. 

What  is  God  ? 143 

"  "Truth? 144 

"  "Creation? 149 

"  "Mind? 147 

"  "  Matter  ? v 148 

"  "  Evil  ? 150 

"  "Time? 152 

"  "  Religion  ? ice 

"  "  Space  ? 155 

"  "Science? 156 


J^ 

(         or 


INTRODUCTION. 


Physical  courage  is  common  enough  the  world  over. 
Man,  whether  savage,  semi-civilized  or  intelligent, 
shows  himself  to  be  possessed  of  powers  that  defy  phys- 
ical pain  and  despise  death.  The  histories  of  all  wars, 
whether  amongst  the  barbarians  or  the  enlightened 
nations,  are  full  of  deeds  of  heroism.  But,  the  man 
that  will  beard  the  lion  in  his  den — face  the  tiger  in  the 
jungles,  and  march  to  the  cannon's  mouth  without 
flinching,  will  yet  tremble  at  the  breath  of  public 
opinion — will  blanch  at  the  attack  of  a  scurrilous  news- 
paper, and  be  turned  from  the  path  of  duty  by  a  little 
opposition  and  ridicule.  Physical  courage  is  common 
both  to  man  and  beast,  but  moral  courage  is  a  plant 
of  rarer  growth.  And  while  we  hear  a  great  deal 
about  the  wants  of  the  age,  we  say  that  the  great  want 
of  the  age  is  that  very  moral  courage  which,  in  spite 
of  all  bitterness  and  opposition,  contempt  and  con- 
tumely, will  dare  to  adhere  to  the  true  and  the  good. 
The  great  desire  of  most  men  is  to  be  thought,  or  to 
seem  to  be,  good  and  true,  without  much  caring 
whether  or  not  they  possess  these  qualities.  Public 
approbation  and  applause  may  be  good  things  in 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

their  way,  but  the  time  comes  in  the  lives  of  all 
men  when  they  are  called  upon  to  think  in  cer- 
tain directions  and  to  perform  certain  acts  that 
run  counter  to  popular  knowledge  and  prejudice,  and 
which  are  sure  for  a  time  to  bring  them  an  amount  of 
public  condemnation  and  ridicule.  This  book  is 
published  in  the  interests  of  the  health  of  humanity,  and 
we  cannot  but  expect  that  amongst  a  certain  class  that 
our  efforts  will  be  received  with  disfavor  and  opposition. 
We  refer  of  course  to  the  medical  practitioners.  We 
shall  certainly  not  say  worse  of  this  class  than  they  say 
of  themselves.  But  the  fault  we  find  with  medical  men 
as  a  class  is,  that  they  speak  and  act  as  if  they  had  a 
monopoly  of  diseases  and  their  cures.  They  think  and 
act  in  certain  grooves,  and  woe  be  to  the  man  who 
dares  to  depart  from  their  established  methods.  This 
fact  is  written  all  down  the  history  of  the  practice  of 
medicine.  Every  advanced  thinker  in  their  own  ranks 
has  been  persecuted  in  every  conceivable  manner. 
Harvey,  Jenner,  Simpson,  Elliotson,  and  a  host  of 
others  who  have  made  advanced  steps  have  been 
pounced  upon  by  the  whole  fraternity  and  character- 
ized "as  innovators  and  madmen.  Who  does  not 
remember  the  fierce  and  bitter  opposition  that  awaited 
the  man  who  discovered  chloroform?  Even  preachers 
from  the  pulpit  denounced  the  employment  of  that 
anaesthetic  as  flying  in  the  face  of  the  Almighty,  who 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

according  to  their  notions,  had  ordained  that  man 
should  feel  the  pain  attending  upon  the  amputation  of 
a  limb.  We  could  multiply  these  cases  ad  infinitum, 
as  the  schoolmen  would  say.  But  our  object  is  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  no  man,  and  no  class  of 
men — dignify  themselves  by  what  titles  they  may — can 
say  to  the  advancing  waves  of  knowledge,  thus  far 
shalt  thou  come  and  no  further.  True  knowledge 
cometh  from  God,  and  it  is  no  man's  and  no  set  of 
men's  exclusive  property.  And  when  men  can  be 
brought  to  recognize  this  great  fact,  and  act  upon  it, 
then  will  the  world  come  to  rejoice  in  true  progression. 
As  the  matter  at  present  stands  most  people  allow  cer- 
tain privileged  classes  to  do  their  thinking  for  them, 
and  as  a  consequence  we  are  surrounded  by  an  atmos- 
phere of  mental  and  moral  slavery.  More  particularly 
is  this  true  of  diseases  and  their  remedies.  Now,  we 
want  the  moral  courage  that  will  dare  to  cut  aloof  from 
these  old  medical  traditions,  and  take  this  matter  of 
health  and  disease  into  our  own  hands. 

Is  it  not  time  that  something  should  be  done  in  this 
direction  ?  The  flood-gates  of  disease  are  open  and 
the  whole  army  of  medical  practitioners  are  powerless 
to  stem  the  tide.  Archimedes  is  reported  to  have  said, 
"  Give  me  a  lever  long  enough  and  a  fulcrum  strong 
enough,  and  I  will  move  the  world."  We  say,  give  us 
the  truth  of  metaphysical  science  and  the  courage  to 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

apply  it,  and  we  will  lift  from  off  humanity  the  moun- 
tains of  disease  that  have  so  long  oppressed  them. 
How  simple  is  truth  and  its  application,  when  its  prin- 
ciples are  known.  The  old  Romans,  at  immense  ex- 
pense and  labor,  built  huge  aqueducts  over  hill  and 
valley.  But  the  necessity  of  these  costly  labors  was 
entirely  done  away  with  by  a  knowledge  that  water 
would  rise  to  the  level  of  its  source. 

But,  to  return  to  the  subject  of  intellectual  daring, 
"  God,"  says  Luther,  "  does  not  have  his  work  made 
manifest  by  cowards."  All  the  blessings  that  we  enjoy 
under  the  names  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  all  the 
improvements  that  have  taken  place  in  science,  have 
sprung  from  the  small  minority  of  daring  and  advanced 
thinkers.  It  is  sad  to  think  how  large  a  number  of 
men  do  their  thinking  by  proxy,  which  is  the  same  as 
saying  they  do  not  think  at  all.  And  yet  God  requires 
of  every  man  that  he  shall  exercise  the  powers  of  his 
own  mind,  and  without  he  does  this,  he  lives  in  mental 
slavery,  which  is,  after  all,  a  more  degrading  position 
than  physical  bondage.  Let  a  man  stand  proudly  and 
grandly  before  the  material  things  of  this  universe, 
and  not  regard  himself  as  an  interloper  in  a  world 
where  he  deems  matter  everything  and  himself  nothing. 
It  is  mind  that  is  everything,  and  before  its  powers 
matter  is  as  nothing.  It  is  this  great  truth  that  we 
have  endeavored  to  set  forth  in  the  following  pages. 


GOD  AND  CREATION. 


Creation !  What  a  stupendous  word  !  What  does 
it  mean  ?  Who  can  interpret  it  to  us  so  that  our  intel- 
lect shall  be  fed  and  satisfied  with  the  explanation  ? 
Many  learned  and  philosophical  treatises  have  been 
written  on  this  subject,  but  we  venture  to  assert  that 
but  few  authors,  either  ancient  or  modern,  have 
advanced  the  human  mind  one  step  in  this  direction. 
Why  is  this  ?  We  answer,  that  it  is  because  they  have 
started  on  a  wrong  basis  ;  their  questions  have  been 
asked  in  the  wrong  direction.  They  have  ransacked 
the  rocks ;  they  have  sounded  the  depths  of  old  ocean ; 
delved  to  the  very  bowels  of  the  earth  ;  laid  bare  the 
fossil  remains  of  bygone  ages,  and  showed  us  the  foot- 
prints of  all  the  early  forms  of  life,  from  the  inconceiv- 
ably small  insect  to  the  huge  monster  that  dwelt  in  the 
primeval  forest ;  and  yet,  after  all  these  researches,  the 
human  mind  still  asks  "What  is  creation?  Had  it  a 
beginning  ?  Can  it  have  an  ending  ?"  "All  things 
from  a  clam  !"  exclaimed  the  elder  Darwin.  But  how 
did  he  know  that  a  clam  or  anything  else  was  the 
beginning  of  life  even  on  this  earth,  to  say  nothing  of 


2  GOD    AND    CREATION, 

other  planets  and  worlds  and  suns  that  everywhere  roll 
on  in  the  boundless  fields  of  ether  ?  Says  the  divine 
Herschel,  "Who  shall  tell  what  countless  forms  of  life 
sleep  beneath  earth's  granite  pavements  ?"  And  yet, 
most  geologists  assume  to  trace  all  forms  of  life  as 
coming  into  existence  after  the  laying  down  and  forma- 
tion of  granite.  But  suppose,  that  if  instead  of  aiming 
to  wring  the  secrets  of  God  and  creation  from  visible 
and  external  nature,  that  we  turn  to  the  invisible  and 
internal ;  suppose  we  try  the  realm  of  mind  and  turn 
away  from  the  realm  of  matter. 

The  idea  of  creation  implies  a  creator  ;  and  according 
to  the  popular  notion,  there  was  a  time  when  this 
creator  began  to  create  ;  which  would  mean  that  there 
was  a  time  when  the  Almighty  world-builder  was  idle. 
The  Bible,  reason,  intuition,  all  forbid  such  a  conclu- 
sion. We  are  told  that  God  is  the  same  to-day,  yester- 
day and  forever  ;  and  He,  accordingly,  was  always  a 
creator,  and  has  from  all  eternity  been  creating.  This 
we  affirm  is  the  only  conclusion  we  can  arrive  at ;  it  is 
the  only  satisfactory  stand  that  we  can  take  in  dealing 
with  this  subject.  That  this  world  had  a  beginning  is 
undoubtedly  true  ;  but  what  is  true  of  this  earth  cannot 
be  true  of  an  eternal  universe  that  had  no  beginning. 
If  we  expect  to  fully  understand  this,  we  expect  too 
much  from  the  finite  intellect  ;  but  there  are  some 
things  which  we  cannot  understand  and  yet  are  com- 


GOD    AND    CREATION.  3 

pelled  to  believe.  For  instance,  who  can  understand 
infinite  space,  and  yet  we  are  compelled  to  believe  in 
its  infinitude.  We  can  conceive  of  no  boundary  ;  in 
other  words,  we  cannot  conceive  of  any  obstruction  in 
space  where  there  is  not  something  beyond.  We 
believe  in  infinity  of  time  and  space  because  it  is  a  law 
of  mind  that  compels  us  so  to  believe.  The  cause  of 
this  belief  comes  from  the  invisible  mind  and  not  from 
visible  matter.  Now,  we  apply  the  same  process  of 
reasoning,  or  rather  of  intuition,  to  God  and  creation. 
No  man  by  searching — that  is,  searching  in  the 
realms  of  visible  matter — can  find  out  God  ;  but  we  can 
get  perceptions  or  conceptions  of  Him  by  trusting  to 
what  we  shall  call,  for  the  want  of  better  terms,  the 
instincts  of  our  invisible  soul.  So  that  as  we  are  com- 
pelled to  believe  that  time  and  space  are  eternal,  so  we 
are  compelled  to  believe  that  God  and  creation  are 
eternal  also. 

All  mythologies  are  full  of  ingenious  endeavors  to 
account  for  the  beginning  of  creation.  These  attempts 
have  been  no  more  reasonable  then  are  the  endeavors 
to  account  for  the  origin  of  time  and  space.  How  can 
that,  which  from  its  very  nature  is  eternal,  have  a 
beginning  ?  The  idea  is  absurd  and  preposterous. 
Amongst  the  early  Hindoos  everything  was  supposed 
to  be  hatched  from  an  egg.  But  where  did  the  egg 
come  from  ?  It  will  be  seen  that  these  people  reasoned 


4  GOD    AND    CREATION. 

from  the  known  phenomena  of  nature  to  account  for 
the  origin  of  nature  itself.  As  the  egg  from  a  chicken 
produces  a  chicken,  so  in  their  minds  creation  and  even 
God  Himself  were  hatched  into  being.  Not  only  have 
these  attempts  been  made  to  account  for  God's  exist- 
ence by  a  material  process,  but  millions  of  persons, 
even  in  Christian  lands,  want  to  know  of  God  through 
their  material  senses.  They  want  to  hear,  touch  and 
see  God  the  same  as  they  can  the  mortal  frame  of  a 
man — God  is  a  spirit  and  as  such  must  be  thought  of 
and  approached.  The  idea  that  God  is  a  person  and 
has  parts  like  a  man  belongs  to  a  pagan  age.  When 
we  say  God  is  not  a  person  like  a  man,  we  do  not 
thereby  deny  that  he  has  no  personality  whatever. 
We  have  no  desire  in  this  connection  to  fly  to  a  dic- 
tionary for  a  definition  of  the  word  person,  for  that 
would  limit  our  meaning.  Locke  somewhere  says,  that 
"a  person  is  a  thinking,  intelligent  being."  We  mean 
that  God  is  a  person  in  that  He  is  distinct  from  nature, 
and  is  the  eternal,  intelligent  and  active  principle  of 
all  creation — and  that  as  He  is  eternal  so  is  creation 
co-eternal  with  God.  Newton,  the  great  Christian 
philosopher,  says,  that  God  is  all  eye,  all  arm,  all  ear. 
Of  course  these  expressions  are  simply  intended  to 
convey  to  us  that  God  is  everywhere,  and  that  he 
is  all  powerful  to  execute  His  own  will.  A  poet 
writes  : 


GOD    AND    CREATION.  O 

"  When  by  the  wind  the  tree  is  shaken, 
There's  not  a  bough  or  leaf  can  fall, 
But  of  its  falling  heed  is  taken 
By  One  who  sees  and  governs  all. 

The  tree  may  fall  and  be  forgotten, 

And  buried  in  the  earth  remain, 
Yet  from  its  juices,  rank  and  rotten, 

Springs  vegetating  life  again. 

The  world  is  with  creation  teeming, 

And  nothing  ever  wholly  dies, 
And  things  that  are  destroyed  in  seeming, 

In  other  shapes  and  forms  arise. 

And  nature  still  unfolds  the  tissue 

Of  unseen  work  by  Spirit  wrought, 
And  not  a  work  but  hath  its  issue 

With  blessing  or  with  evil  fraught." 

With  regard  to  the  creation  of  man  we  are  told  in 
Genesis,  i,  26  and  27  : 

"And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  image, 
after  our  likeness  :  and  let  them  have  dominion  over 
the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and 
over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 

So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image 
of  God  created  he  him :  male  and  female  created  he 
them." 

We  must  put  a  reasonable  and  intelligent  construc- 
tion upon  these  sentences.  Man  cannot  be  made  in 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God  in  power  and  intelli- 
gence. The  finite  cannot  be  like  the  infinite.  God  is 


6  GOD    AND    CREATION. 

not  limited  in  knowledge  and  goodness,  but  man  is. 
But  man  may  be  like  unto  God  in  the  essence  of  his 
being,  because  he  is  a  spark  fof  the  celestial  fire.  A 
drop  of  water  is,  chemically  speaking,  in  the  image  and 
likeness  of  the  whole  ocean,  but  it  has  not  the  powers 
of  the  whole  ocean,  for  the  latter  can  roll  mighty 
waves — raise  storms  and  bear  ships  on  its  bosom.  In 
a  broad  and  grand  sense  the  drop  is  not  like  the  ocean. 
And  though  man  is  in  one  sense  the  image  and  likeness 
of  God,  yet  he  is  not  like  God  in  all  things,  for  He  has 
infinite  and  eternal  powers  not  possessed  by  man. 
Nevertheless,  this  divine  likenesss,  or  if  we  may  so 
call  it,  this  divine  kinship,  should  awaken  in  the  breast 
of  every  man  a  conscious  grandeur  of  his  divine  origin 
and  mission.  It  was  in  a  moment  of  inspiration  that 
a  poet  transported  himself  to  the  starry  worlds  above 
and  exclaimed, — 

"Even  here,  I  feel 

Among  these  mighty  things,  that  as  I  am 
I  am  akin  to  God  ;  that  I  am  part 
Of  the  use  universal,  and  can  grasp 
Some  portion  of  that  reason  in  the  which 
The  whole  is  ruled  and  founded,  and  that  I  have 
A  spirit  nobler  in  its  cause  and  end, 
Lovelier  in  order,  greater  in  power, 
Than  all  these  bright  and  swift  immensities." 

Still,  though  man  should  grandly  feel  the  majesty  of 
his  own  existence,  yet  when  he  contemplates  God  and 


GOD    AND    CREATION.  7 

creation  he  will  feel  his  own  littleness.  He  will  feel 
his  vast  ignorance  in  the  presence  of  this  vast  intelli- 
gence. 

"  The  Lord  of  all,  Himself  through  all  diffused, 
Sustains,  and  is  the  life  of  all  that  lives, 
Nature  is  but  a  name  for  an  effect, 
Whose  cause  is  God." 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  EVIL, 


The  account  of  the  origin  of  evil  as  recorded  in  the 
book  of  Genesis  is  not  accepted  literally  by  intelligent 
Christians  of  the  present  day.  Philosophers  have 
exercised  their  thought  and  ingenuity  in  endeavoring 
to  solve  this  great  problem,  and  yet  to-day  it  remains 
as  great  a  mystery  as  ever.  Pope  says — 

"  All  nature  is  but  art  unknown  to  thee; 

All  chance,  direction  which  thon  canst  not  see; 
All  discord,  harmony  not  understood; 
All  partial  evil,  universal  good." 

After  all,  this  is  an  unsatisfactory  explanation.  It  is 
simply  an  admission  of  evil  and  an  assertion  that  it  is 
good.  From  whatever  standpoint  we  view  nature,  we 
find  that  a  system  of  dualism  prevails  through  all  her 
works.  There  are  light  and  darkness,  heat  and  cold, 
attraction  and  repulsion,  upper  and  under,  inner  and 
outer,  and  good  and  evil.  Whatever  name  we  call  evil 
by,  whether  ignorance,  or  as  some  doubtful  philosophers 
term  it,  "  undeveloped  good,"  it  is  still  our  enemy  in 
whatever  shape  it  appears.  To  destroy  it  is  our  duty, 
and  that  of  everyone  on  earth.  Make  heat,  and  the 
cold  is  banished  ;  kindle  a  light,  and  the  darkness  dis- 


10  THE    ORIGIN    OF    EVIL. 

perses  of  itself;  let  in  the  rays  of  truth  and  science  upon 
disease,  and  it  will  flee  away.  Most  theologians  start 
with  the  assertion  that  there  are  two  great  powers  in 
the  universe,  a  God  who  is  powerful  for  all  good,  and  a 
Devil  who  is  powerful  for  all  evil,  and  that  these 
powers  are  co-existent  and  co-eternal,  and  have  been 
warring  against  each  other  through  all  eternity  for 
supremacy.  We  have  admitted  the  personality  of  God, 
but  we  deny  the  personality  of  a  Devil.  Discord,  error, 
sin,  sickness,  ignorance  and  irreverence  are  the  devils 
that  mislead  and  torment  us.  We  let  in  upon  these  the 
light  of  God's  truth.  We  fight  disease  with  the  weap- 
ons which  He  has  placed  in  the  minds  of  all  His 
children,  and  we  can  become  conquerors. 

Who  has  not  read  Milton's  Paradise  Lost  ?  This 
grand  old  man  in  his  blindness,  conceived  the  idea 
that  he  could  "in  the  height  of  his  great  argument 
justify  the  ways  of  God  to  man."  According  to  his 
idea,  evil  commenced  when  some  archangels  in  heaven 
began  a  war  against  their  maker.  They;  and  their 
adherents  were  overthrown  in  that  war  and  were  cast 
out  of  heaven.  But  does  this  idea  settle  the  question  ? 
Does  it  account  for  the  origin  of  evil  ?  Let  us  see. 
Like  produces  like.  The  beginning  of  every  action  is 
a  thought — a  thought  good  or  bad  is  the  seed  of  an 
action — and  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  no  rebellious 
action  could  have  taken  place  without  being  preceded 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    EVIL.  11 

by  rebellious  thoughts  or  designs.  Whence  came  those 
evil  thoughts  ?  They  had  their  origin  in  something. 
They  could  not  have  an  origin  in  goodness.  Let  no 
reader  be  startled  when  we  assert  that  evil  or  discord 
or  sin,  or  by  whatever  name  we  call  it,  is  one  of  the 
necessities  of  creation.  This  we  submit  is  the  doctrine 
taught  by  Christ.  In  Mat.,  18:7,  it  is  said,  "Wo  unto 
the  world  because  of  offences,  for  it  must  needs  be  that 
offences  come ;  but  wo  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offence 
cometh."  Why  must  it  needs  be?  Simply  because  it 
is  a  necessity,  and  this  necessity  is  perfectly  compatible 
with  the  good  and  righteous  government  of  God.  God 
is  a  creator,  but  He  cannot  create  a  being  equal  to  Him- 
self, all  that  He  creates  must  be  beneath  Himself  in 
intelligence,  and  in  power,  which  is  the  same  as  saying 
that  we  are  limited  or  finite  beings.  Being  thus  limi- 
ted, man  must  necessarily  err,  and  from  this  error 
comes  sin  and  suffering.  This  is  the  way,  in  the  face 
of  all  the  learned  treatises  on  philosophy  and  theology, 
that  we  account  for  the  existence  of  the  suffering  and 
misery  of  the  world. 

Now,  let  us  turn  to  the  other  side  of  the  picture. 
Man  is  made  after  the  image  of  God  ;  he  is  a  spark  of 
the  divine  essence  ;  he  possesses  within  himself  the 
power  to  conquer  error;  to  subdue  disease  and  turn  dis- 
cord to  harmony.  Thus  far  we  have  shown  the  reason- 
ableness, the  justice  and  goodness  of  the  creation.  But 


12  THE    ORIGIN    OF    EVIL. 

when  we  say  that  man  is  made  after  the  image  of  God, 
we  do  not  mean  physically.  When  we  affirm  that  man 
is  made  after  the  likeness  of  God,  we  do  not  mean  alike 
in  power,  in  intelligence  and  goodness,  but  in  likeness 
in  having  a  part  of  his  nature,  in  having  a  soul  that  is 
divine  in  its  essence.  But  as  this  soul  in  him  must,  as 
we  have  before  seen,  from  the  necessities  of  creation  be 
limited  in  its  powers,  it  cannot  grasp  all  knowledge  ;  it 
must  commit  errors,  and  thus  originates  sin  and  sick- 
ness. The  objection  here  that  can  be  made  is  this  : 
If  God  has  created  man  so  that  he  must  trangress, 
is  it  just  that  he  should  be  punished  for  his  trans- 
gression ?  We  answer,  perfectly  so,  because  it  is  a 
necessity. 

And  we  speak  reverently  ;  there  are  necessities  that 
surround  God  himself;  in  other  words  there  are  impos- 
sibilities even  to  the  Great  Creator.  We  need  here 
only  again  refer  to  the  impossibility  of  God  creating  a 
being  equal  to  Himself.  He  alone  is  perfectly  good, 
and  He  cannot  create  the  perfectly  good,  but  while  He 
cannot  do  this  He  can  and  has  created  beings  capable 
of  continually  striving  after  goodness  and  intelligence. 
This  necessitates  a  man  having  a  will  and  a  power  of 
selection  for  his  needs,  wants  and  progress.  When  he 
does  not  so  select  he  does  not  fulfill  the  needs  of  his 
soul  in  its  path  of  progression,  and  the  result  is  pain. 
This  pain  is  necessaryand  just,  for  without  this  reminder 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    EVIL.  13 

man  would  not  strive  to  unfold  his  being  and  fulfil  his 
part  in  the  great  plan  of  his  Creator. 

Now,  if  there  are  necessities  that  surround  even 
God  Himself  in  creation,  much  more  so  are  there  neces- 
sities that  surround  man  in  his  life.  The  laws  of  God 
are  no  respecters  of  persons.  They  are  like  Himself 
eternal  and  unchangeable.  It  is  a  necessity  that  they 
must  punish  all  violations,  whether  they  are  made 
knowingly  or  unknowingly.  A  law  to  be  a  law  must 
be  constant  and  undeviating  under  all  circumstances. 
It  is  not  possible  to  conceive  it  otherwise.  Who  can 
imagine  a  law  of  gravitation  determining  in  itself  when 
it  shall  punish  and  when  it  shall  not  punish  ?  Who  can 
imagine  a  power  in  the  sea  to  say  when  man  shall  or 
shall  not  drown  in  it  ? 

Whoever  a  man  may  be,  saint  or  savage,  pope  or 
peasant,  or  whether  he  falls  into  the  water  accidentally 
or  plunges  into  it  with  suicidal  intent  if  he  remains 
under  water  a  sufficient  length  of  time  the  result  will 
be  death.  That  is  a  necessity  of  law  and  creation. 


MIND  AND  MATTER. 


Much  has  been  written  on  these  subjects,  and  we 
shall  touch  upon  them  only  so  far  as  they  have  a  strict 
relation  to  the  purposes  of  this  work.  Byron  wrote  : 

"When  Berkeley  said  there  was  no  matter  and  proved  it 
No  matter  what  he  said." 

This  might  have  been  intended  as  a  witticism,  but  it 
is  certainly  no  reply  to  the  position  taken  by  the  great 
philosopher.  Berkeley  is  not  alone  in  his  views  upon 
this  subject,  for  philosophers  in  all  ages  have  en- 
deavored to  show  to  those  who  claimed  that  this 
universe  was  nothing  but  a  workshop,  wherein  all  the 
changes  we  witness  are  but  the  results  of  the  chemical 
play  of  atoms,  that  after  all  they  knew  nothing  about 
it,  or  at  least  made  claims  for  it  that  neither  fact  nor 
reason  would  warrant  them  in  doing.  What  matter 
really  is  has  never  been  defined.  We  only  know  of  it 
by  certain  properties,  such  as  form,  size,  weight,  color 
and  so  forth.  These  properties  whether  taken  indi- 
vidually or  collectively  are  not  matter  itself,  but  only 
certain  properties  of  a  something  that  we  call  matter. 
Color  is  but  the  color  of  something — size  is  only  the 


16  MIND    AND    MATTER. 

size  of  something — and  so  it  can  be  said  of  all  the 
other  properties  ;  but  these  are  not  the  thing  itself. 
Is  there  anything  underlying  all  these  properties  ?  If 
so,  we  do  not  know  what  that  something  is.  How  do 
we  become  conscious  of  those  properties?  It  is  only 
through  our  sense  of  sight  and  touch  and  the  obstruc- 
tion we  meet  with  in  matter  that  we  become  conscious 
of  any  existence.  In  other  words,  as  we  know  of 
matter  by  properties,  the  recognition  of  those  properties 
entirely  depends  upon  senses  or  the  quality  of  mind. 
Let  us  illustrate  this  still  further.  There  is  a  some- 
thing that  we  call  pain.  Let  a  person  be  pricked 
with  a  needle,  the  result  will  be  pain.  What  makes 
that  result.  Certainly  not  the  needle. 

The  steel  of  which  it  is  composed  could  feel  no  pain. 
What  felt  the  pain  ?  Every  physicist  will  at  once  say 
that  it  was  the  nerve  that  felt  the  pain — and  without 
the  existence  of  a  nerve  there  could  be  no  such  thing 
as  pain.  We  speak  of  a  burn  from  the  fire  producing 
pain  ;  but  if  there  were  no  nerves  to  feel,  there  could 
be  no  sensation  of  pain  from  the  burn.  Again,  there 
is  another  thing  that  we  call  sound.  How  is  this  made 
up  ?  Take  a  small  bell  and  ring  it.  The  tongue 
strikes  against  the  side  of  the  bell  causing  it  to  vibrate. 
These  vibrations  set  the  air  in  motion,  producing  in  it 
a  wave-like  motion,  and  when  these  waves  fall  upon  the 
ear,  they  produce  a  result  we  call  sound.  But  if  there 


MIND    AND    MATTER.  17 

was  no  ear  to  catch  those  waves  there  could  be  no  such 
result  as  sound.  What  we  have  said  of  feeling  and 
hearing  can  be  applied  with  equal  force  of  reasoning  to 
all  the  other  senses.  But  we  must  go  one  step  further 
back.  When  we  speak  of  the  nerves  of  sight,  of  hear- 
ing, of  smell  and  so  forth,  we  by  no  means  wish  to 
imply  that  it  is  these  material  nerves  that  in  themselves 
perform  the  functions  attributed  to  them.  On  the  other 
hand  we  contend  that  it  is  not  the  eye  that  sees  nor 
the  ear  that  hears.  The  eye  is  but  the  instrument 
which  conveys  impressions  to  the  invisible  mind.  In 
itself  it  has  no  more  the  power  to  see  than  has  the  tele- 
scope or  microscope.  Look  at  a  human  body  when 
the  life  has  departed  from  it.  All  the  organs  are  there 
—the  nerves  are  still  in  existence,  but  there  is  no  sen- 
sation, and  the  body,  whether  you  dissect  it  or  burn 
it,  can  suffer  no  pain.  And  why  ?  Because  the  invisi- 
ble power  that  felt,  that  saw,  heard  and  performed 
all  the  other  powers,  has  departed.  So  that  we  are 
driven  to  the  conclusion  that  matter,  in  itself,  has  no 
intelligence  nor  feeling,  and  does  not  possess  even  the 
power  of  motion.  Thus,  if  we  raise  an  arm  and  ask 
the  physicist  or  materialist  by  what  power  we  perform 
the  act,  he  readily  answers  that  it  is  merely  muscular 
motion.  If  we  ask  further,  what  moved  the  muscles  ? 
He  replies,  the  nerves.  What  then  moved  the  nerves? 
He  answers,  the  brain.  We  further  desire  to  know 


18  MIND    AND    MATTER. 

what  moved  the  brain  ?  Here  we  answer  for  him  and 
say  it  is  the  spirit.  Brain  is  not  the  organ  of  mind  in 
the  same  sense  that  the  liver  is  the  organ  of  hepatic 
secretion.  Brain  is  the  organ  of  the  mind.  It  does  not 
produce  mind,  but  is  acted  upon  by  it.  The  body  does 
not  produce  life,  but  is  acted  upon  and  vivified  by  it. 
Take  a  seed  of  any  description,  analyse  it,  subject  it  to 
any  chemical  test  you  please,  can  you  tell  or  point  out 
its  principle  of  life  ?  No  !  this  is  invisible,  and  yet  it 
is  that  invisible  power  in  it  that  is  the  all-important 
thing.  Turn  which  way  we  will,  it  is  the  invisible  that 
acts  upon,  that  governs,  animates  and  moves  dead  visi- 
ble matter.  And  we  know  of  no  limit  that  the  invisible 
mind,  when  used  under  the  powers  of  science,  has  over 
matter.  In  one  sense  we  may  call  it  all-powerful. 

But  if  we  know  little  about  the  nature  of  matter,  so 
also  do  we  know  but  little  about  the  nature  of  mind. 
We  know  nothing  of  its  essence,  we  only  know  of  it 
by  its  powers  and  effects,  and  of  these  we  are  in  the 
main  ignorant.  How  wonderful  even  is  memory.  By 
what  process  are  words,  ideas  and  scenes  impressed 
upon  and  retained  in  the  mind?  Every  mind  is  one 
vast  picture  gallery  upon  which  is  photographed  all 
that  we  have  seen,  learned,  suffered  and  enjoyed. 
Not  always  to  be  called  up  by  our  own  volition,  and 
not  always  present  to  our  consciousness.  A  landscape, 
a  verse,  a  quotation,  may  slumber  in  the  mind  for  long, 


MIND    AND    MATTER.  19 

long  years  without  being  remembered,  when  suddenly 
some  trifling  thing  will  call  up  from  the  chambers  of 
sleep  the  forgotten  impression.  Then  the  effect  of 
mind  upon  mind  is  equally  mysterious.  How  often  are 
our  thoughts  and  feelings  projected  into  the  mind  of 
another  without  our  own  intention  or  knowledge. 
How  grand  and  yet  how  silent  is  this  power  of  mind 
exercised  ;  there  is  no  beating  of  drums,  no  blowing  of 
trumpets,  no  sounding  of  gongs,  no  booming  of  cannon, 
and  yet  the  effects  of  this  silent  power  and  march  of 
mind  are  greater,  grander,  than  the  tramp  of  armed 
millions  and  the  thunder  of  all  the  artillery  in  the 
world.  The  noise,  the  pomp,  the  power  of  the  one 
shall  pass  away,  but  the  other  shall  endure  forever. 

There  is  one  other  attribute  of  mind  that  we  must 
notice,  and  that  is  its  power  to  endow  matter  with  the 
power  of  sensation,  and  enabling  it  to  receive  impress- 
ions. These  impressions  may  become  beliefs.  But 
these  sensations,  impressions,  and  beliefs,  are  not 
eternally  lasting,  but  like  the  matter  which  they  are 
impressed  upon,  can  be  removed  and  dissolved. 
Thus,  it  will  be  seen,  that  we  make  mind  to  have  a 
two-fold  existence.  But  we  give  these  two  states  two 
different  names.  The  soul  pure  and  simple  we  call  the 
"  immortal  mind."  The  other  condition  which  is  pro- 
duced by  the  influence  of  mind  upon  matter  we  call 
the  "  mortal  mind."  In  all  investigations  in  the  science 


20  MIND    AND    MATTER. 

of  metaphysical  healing,  it  is  important  to  bear  these 
distinctions  in  mind.  Let  it  be  understood  that 
though  we  say  "mortal  mind,"  we  do  not  wish  the  read- 
er to  infer  that  this  condition  will  necessarily  pass 
away  at  the  change  called  death.  These  impressions 
and  conditions  if  not  conquered  in  this  life,  will  have  to 
be  destroyed  in  the  next  sphere  of  existence  by  our 
own  volition.  How  important  then  it  is  for  our  own 
happiness  here  and  hereafter  to  live  according  to  the 
spiritual  laws  of  God. 


THINGS  SEEN  AND  UNSEEN. 


It  is  commonly  said  of  the  Egotist — "he  thinks  he 
knows  it  all,  and  what  he  does  not  know  is  not  worth 
knowing."  It  may  be  affirmed  more  forcibly  that  men 
generally  think  they  see  it  all,  and  that  what  they  do 
not  see  is  not  worth  seeing.  There  is  no  sense,  no 
power  of  the  mind,  that  men  are  tyrannized  over  so 
much  as  by  their  eyesight,  They  are,  in  fact,  to  a  very 
large  extent,  the  slaves  of  their  vision.  St.  Paul  says  : 
"  The  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things 
which  are  unseen  are  eternal."  He  doubtless  had 
strict  reference  to  spiritual  things  as  distinguished  from 
things  material.  But  we  desire  for  a  moment  to  call 
attention  to  the  things  which  physicists  class  as  natural 
phenomena.  All  the  mighty  forces  of  nature  are  un- 
seen. And  yet  how  rarely  men  think  of  these  things. 
We  gaze  upon  the  locomotive  as  it  speeds  with  its 
train  of  cars  over  hill  and  valley,  without  for  a  moment 
thinking  that  this  power  is  derived  from  an  unseen 
agent.  The  steam  in  the  steam-chest  is  as  invisible  as 
the  atmosphere  we  breathe.  It  is  only  when  this  steam 
comes  in  contact  with  the  atmosphere  and  becomes 


22  THINGS    SEEN   AND    UNSEEN. 

condensed,  that  it  is  visible.  Men  speak  of  the  laws  of 
nature  as  if  they  were  things  that  they  could  see  and 
handle.  Whoever  saw  the  law  of  gravitation  or  any 
other  law  ?  And  yet  it  is  these  invisible  laws  that 
make  and  govern  all  the  mighty  and  varied  operations 
which  are  ever  taking  place  around  us.  The  falling 
apple,  the  crumbling  mountain,  the  moving  avalanche, 
the  roaring  cataract,  the  rushing  river,  the  raindrop, 
the  snowflake,  all  move  and  fall  in  obedience  to  this 
invisible  force  of  gravitation.  We  gaze  upon  a  forest 
of  oaks  and  admire  their  towering  strength  as  they 
sway  their  strong  arms  in  the  blast.  A  fire  will  in  a 
few  hours  sweep  that  forest  forever  from  our  sight. 
What  survives  ?  It  is  the  invisible  that  survives  and 
again  builds  up  the  visible.  The  forest  is  gone,  but  we 
have  an  acorn,  and  that  acorn  is  capable  of  producing  an 
oak  and  a  forest  or  a  million  of  forests.  The  acorn  is 
visible  it  is  true,  but  it  is  not  its  visible  parts  that  per- 
petuate the  oak.  The  germ,  the  life  that  sends  out  roots 
and  fibres,  and  trunks  and  branches,  is  an  invisible  some- 
thing which  we  call  life;  and  without  this  invisible  some- 
thing survived  we  could  have  no  visible  oaks.  WTe  can 
see  a  wire  of  the  electric  telegraph,  and  the  batteries, 
and  the  operators  at  their  instruments,  but  the  power 
that  enables  us  to  send  words  and  messages  over  conti- 
nents and  through  seas  is  invisible.  Electricity  is  invisi- 
ble, but  it  exists  in  and  around  every  particle  of  matter, 


THINGS    SEEN    AND    UNSEEN.  23 

animate  and  inanimate.  Take  a  common  magnet  and 
hold  it  in  close  proximity  to  a  needle,  the  needle  is 
drawn  to  it  by  a  force  ;  but  because  we  cannot  see  that 
force,  shall  we  say  that  it  is  of  any  less  importance 
than  the  needle  and  the  magnet  which  we  can  see  ? 

How  few  persons  realize  that  even  as  regards  the 
forms  of  life  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdom,  that 
by  far  the  greater  number  of  varieties  are  not  discernible 
by  the  naked  eye.  There  are  living  things  "to  whom  the 
fragile  blade  of  grass,  that  springeth  in  the  morn  and 
perisheth  ere  noon,  is  an  unbounded  world."  It  has 
been  calculated  that  there  are  millions  and  millions  of 
insects  in  a  cubic  inch  of  water  ;  they  are  so  small, 
when  compared  with  the  finest  grain  of  sand,  that  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  conceive  how  they  can  possess 
organs  which  enable  them  to  pass  and  repass  and 
avoid  each  other ;  and  yet  they  do  these  things,  and 
they  show  us  that  they  have  their  likes  and  antipathies 
the  same  as  the  animals  which  are  our  everyday 
companions. 

Again,  our  thought  is  often  required  to  correct  the 
conclusion  of  our  sight.  It  is  not  by  our  eyes  alone  that 
we  know  the  earth  moves.  We  ascertain  this  fact  by 
the  exercise  of  thought.  Mere  vision  would  lead  us  to 
come  to  exactly  the  opposite  conclusion.  So  that,  view 
this  universe  in  what  aspect  we  please,  we  conclude, 
first,  that  with  regard  to  the  so-called  material  things, 


24  THINGS  SEEN  AND  UNSEEN. 

that  it  is  the  invisible  mind  that  corrects  and  properly 
informs  our  sense  ;  next,  that  of  all  things  in  the  uni- 
verse it  is  the  unseen  which  has  power,  that  moulds 
and  fashions  the  things  which  are  seen,  and  that  it 
alone  endures  forever.  And  when  men  shall  fully 
understand  and  believe  these  things,  that  belief  shall 
be  to  them  as  a  new  Messiah,  purifying  and  regenera- 
ting their  nature  ;  and  then,  in  the  fullness  of  joy,  man 
will  exclaim  "  I  am  one  with  God  !" 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO  GOD  AND 
CREATION. 


The  questions  that  follow  next  in  order  are  these  : 
What  relation  does  man  stand  to  creation  and  its  crea- 
tor ?  What  influence  can  he  have  over  the  world 
around  ?  To  what  extent  can  he  make  or  mar  his  joys 
and  sorrows  ?  Macaulay  somewhere  says,  that  touch- 
ing the  ways  of  God  with  man,  the  ignorant  savage  is 
as  wise  as  the  most  learned  philosopher.  This  may  be 
true  as  a  matter  of  reason  ;  but  it  is  untrue  as  a  matter 
of  faith  and  intuition.  But  in  order  to  let  these  faiths 
and  intuitions  have  full  play,  man  must  throw  aside  his 
intellectual  pride.  It  is  this  ingredient  that  has  led  him 
into  the  grand  error  of  believing  that  all  things  were 
made  purposely  and  solely  for  his  use.  A  well  known 
satirist  writes  : 

"Has  God,  thou  fool  !  worked  solely  for  thy  good, 
Thy  joy,  thy  pastime,  thy  attire,  thy  food  ? 
Who  for  thy  table  feeds  the  wanton  fawn, 
For  him  has  kindly  spread  the  flowery  lawn  ; 
Is  it  for  thee  the  lark  ascends  and  sings  ? 
Joy  tunes  his  voice,  joy  elevates  his  wings. 
Is  it  for  thee  the  linnet  pours  his  throat  ? 
Loves  of  his  own,  and  raptures  swell  the  note. 


26          MAN'S  RELATION  TO  GOD  AND  CREATION. 

The  bounding  steed  you  pompously  bestride 
Shares  with  his  lord  the  pleasure  and  the  pride. 
Is  thine  alone  the  seed  that  strews  the  plain  ? 
The  birds  of  heaven  shall  vindicate  their  grain, 
Thine  the  full  harvest  of  the  golden  year  ? 
Part  pays,  and  justly,  the  deserving  steer  ; 
The  hog,  that  ploughs  not,  nor  obeys  thy  call, 
Lives  on  the  labors  of  this  lord  of  all. 

Know,  Nature's  children  all  divide  her  care, 
The  fur  that  warms  a  monarch,  warms  a  bear. 
While  man  exclaims  '  See  all  things  for  my  use  !' 
'  See  man  for  mine  !'  replies  a  pampered  goose. 
And  just  as  short  of  reason  he  must  fall, 
Who  thinks  all  made  for  ne,  onot  one  for  all." 

The  poet  Gray,  in  his  immortal  elegy,  written  in  a 
country  churchyard,  too  anxious  to  point  a  moral  or 
adorn  a  tale,  uses  a  false  illustration  when  he  writes  : 

"  Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 
The  dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear  ; 
Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 

These  lines,  which  have  so  often  done  duty  in  the 
pulpit,  on  the  platform,  and,  in  fact,  in  all  the  walks  of 
literature  and  oratory,  are  a  striking  example  of  that 
intellectual  pride  and  human  conceit  to  which  we  have 
called  attention.  At  the  moment  we  write,  there  are 
countless  myriads  of  the  most  gorgeous  flowers  of  the 
most  delicate  hue  and  the  choicest  perfume,  growing 
and  blossoming  in  a  thousand  nooks  and  dells,  and 
where  they  grow  blossom  and  display  a  beauty  beyond 
the  power  of  man  to  imitate,  there  they  die  and  find 


MAN'S  RELATION  TO  GOD  AND  CREATION.      27 

no  record  in  the  brain  of  man,  and  their  history  is  re- 
corded in  no  book.  But  shall  we  say  that  because 
they  thus  live  and  die  that  their  perfume,  their  beauty, 
and  use  are  wasted  ?  This  would  indeed  be  telling  God 
that  he  has  made  things  in  vain,  because  they  were  not 
intimately  and  immediately  related  to  man  and  his  con-' 
venience  and  comfort.  Because  all  the  rays  of  sunlight 
do  not  fall  upon  man  and  the  little  patch  of  ground  that 
he  cultivates,  shall  we  say  that  therefore  those  rays  are 
wasted  ?  Unquestionably,  every  ray  of  light  that  falls 
from  yonder  sun,  whether  falling  upon  the  barren  rock, 
the  sterile  desert  or  the  "  dark  unfathomed  caves  of 
ocean,"  has  its  use  and  mission.  Are  there  not  count- 
less forms  of  vegetable  and  animal  life  in  the  depths  of 
the  ocean,  ay,  in  every  drop  of  water,  that  require  the 
nourishing  rays  of  light  to  preserve  and  perpetuate 
their  existence  ?  "  All  things  that  on  the  earth  do 
dwell,  unto  the  earth  some  special  good  do  give."  The 
grain  of  sand,  the  blade  of  grass,  the  tiny  insect,  the 
towering  mountain,  the  rolling  river  and  the  sounding 
sea,  are  as  much  a  necessary  part  of  creation  as  man. 
"All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole."  And  when 
man  comes  to  recognize  this  great  fact,  then  will  he 
come  to  look  at  things  with  an  eye  of  faith,  and  not  as 
now,  through  the  lens  of  a  proud  and  utilitarian  reason. 
We  should  not  stand  with  arrogance  before  this  mighty 
creation  that  everywhere  encircles  us,  but  with  humility 


28         MAN'S  RELATION  TO  GOD  AND  CREATION. 

and  faith,  and  then  things  that  are  now  dark  to  us  will 
appear  bright  as  the  noonday.  We  should  gaze  upon 
this  kingdom  of  God  with  the  single-mindedness  of  a 
child.  Christ  says,  "  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
therein."  If  we  approach  God's  works  as  if  we  knew 
all  their  mysteries  then  we  shall  know  but  little,  but  if 
we  will  sit  down  before  them  in  humility  and  reverence 
then  we  shall  learn  more  and  more  of  His  ways  and 
shall  be  enabled  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  His 
mysteries  and  power. 

How  far  can  man  control  and  have  power  over  and 
use  the  works  of  God  ?  There  are  some  things  that 
are  inexorable,  that  exist  in  spite  of  and  cannot  be 
controlled  by  the  mind  of  man.  There  are  the  move- 
ments of  the  heavenly  bodies,  these  are  exact  and  are 
founded  upon  the  principles  of  divine  mathematics. 
There  are  also  other  things  over  which  he  cannot  from 
their  very  nature  exercise  the  slightest  influence  or 
control.  He  cannot  destroy  God's  laws,  but  he  can 
obey  them  and  use  them  for  his  own  happiness  and 
progress.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  God  has  given  him 
dominion  over  all  things  around  him.  By  the  exercise 
of  what  power  ?  By  the  power  of  mind.  This  power 
is  the  divinity  in  man.  When  it  is  told  us  that  God 
made  man  after  his  own  image  we  take  it  to  mean  that 
he  made  the  spirit  of  man  after  his  own  essence. 


MAN'S    RELATION    TO    GOD    AND    CREATION.  29 

Jesus  taught  this  doctrine,  He  proclaimed  that  God 
acted  through  Him,  that  God  spake  through  Him  and 
that  if  we  wanted  to  see  God  that  we  could  do  so  in 
Him,  and  in  ourselves  when  we  thought  and  believed 
as  He  did.  Thus  we  have  presented  to  us  <;  the  golden 
key  which  opes  the  Palace  of  Eternity."  Christ  walked 
the  wave,  made  the  loaves  and  fishes,  healed  the  sick 
and  raised  the  dead.  On  what  principles  did  He  do 
these  things?  He  himself  tells  us,  that  His  power 
was  from  God.  He  never  spake  of  disease  as  difficult 
or  dangerous.  He  never  employed  drugs  of  any  des- 
cription, In  fact,  He  in  all  cases  implied  that  the  cure 
for  these  diseases  was  not  to  be  found  in  visible  matter, 
but  in  invisible  mind.  When  his  followers  brought  to 
Him  cases  they  could  not  heal,  He  said  unto  them,  "Oh, 
ye  of  little  faith."  This  age  seems  to  have  lost  the  mean- 
ing of  the  grandest  and  sublimest  word  in  the  English, 
or  any  other  language,  namely,  FAITH.  When  St.  Paul 
said  ''faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for — the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen,"  he  did  not  intend  to  give 
a  complete  definition  of  that  word.  Whenever  Christ 
used  the  word  faith,  He  evidently  gave  to  it  a  meaning 
and  power  that  were  more  potent  for  good  than  that 
possessed  by  all  the  other  human  powers  combined. 
He  spoke  of  faith  as  a  law  of  God,  as  real  in  its  oper- 
ation as  the  law  of  gravitation  or  any  other  law  by 
which  this  universe  is  guided  and  governed. 


30          MAN'S  RELATION  TO  GOD  AND  CREATION. 

The  question  will  arise  in  the  minds  of  some  persons 
as  to  the  possibility  of  people  in  modern  days  possess- 
ing the  power  of  affecting  cures  upon  the  same  method 
as  that  recorded  in  Scripture.  We  answer  this  ques- 
tion from  two  standpoints.  First,  we  take  the  words  of 
Christ  himself,  who  promised  his  followers,  "  The  works 
that  I  do  ye  shall  do."  Next,  we  answer  the  question 
from  the  standpoint  of  fact,  from  which  there  can  be. 
*no  escape  for  the  caviler  or  the  skeptic.  We  take 
our  stand  upon  the  doctrine,  "  by  their  fruits  shall  ye 
know  them,"  so  that  from  whatever  point  we  consider 
the  relation  of  man  to  God  and  creation — however  we 
may  view  man  as  a  being  of  power  and  duties  in  this 
sphere  of  existence- — we  are  warranted  in  coming  to  the 
conclusion,  that  it  is  through  mind,  and  faith  in  its 
unlimited  powers,  that  he  can  conquer  all  disease  and 
suffering,  and  error,  that  affect  him  in  his  journey 
through  life. 


THE  MISSION  AND  DUTY  OF 

MAN. 


Such  of  our  readers  as  have  perused  Pope's  Essay 
on  Man,  will  agree  with  us  that  while  that  production 
stands  unrivalled  as  a  work  of  its  kind,  yet  that  it  fails 
to  satisfy  either  the  head  or  heart.  The  work  is  entirely 
of  a  materialistic  kind.  Though  here  and  there  are  to 
be  found  passages  that  appear  to  have  their  birth  in 
the  spiritual  powers  of  our  nature,  yet  the  author  seems 
to  think  that  he  could  solve  the  problem  of  life,  by 
reference  to  the  visible  world  as  judged  of  by  the  reason- 
ing faculties  of  man.  Viewed  in  this  light  the  work  is 
a  splendid  failure.  What  help  does  it  give  us  to  be 
told  to 

"  Laugh  where  we  must,  be  candid  where  we  can, 
But  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  to  man. 
Say  first  of  God  above  or  man  below, 
What  can  we  reason,  but  from  what  we  know. 
Of  man,  what  see  we  but  his  station  here, 
From  which  to  reason  or  to  which  refer 
Through  worlds  unnumbered  though  the  God  be  known, 
'Tis  ours  to  trace  him  only  in  our  own." 

We  have  elsewhere  in  this  work  aimed  to  show  that 
man  cannot  solve  those  mighty  problems  that  relate  to 


32  THE    MISSION    AND    DUTY    OF    MAN. 

existence  by  an  appeal  to  reason,  nor  by  consulting 
material  nature.  Here,  again,  we  must  refer  to  the 
intuitions  and  to  faith.  Man  questions  himself.  What 
is  the  meaning  of  existence  ?  Why  am  I  here  ?  What 
use  am  I  to  this  universe?  We  affirm  that  there  dwells, 
deep  down  in  the  bosom  of  every  man,  a  belief  that  he 
comes  into  the  world  to  do  some  work  which  no  other 
man  can  do — a  work  imposed  upon  him  by  the  very 
laws  of  his  own  being.  This,  to  him,  is  an  intuition. 
He  cannot  find  the  corroboration  of  this  in  the  material 
universe,  for  his  modicum  of  work  seems  to  be  swal- 
lowed up,  and  the  only  benefit  he  can  witness  is,  that 
his  labor  enables  him  to  clothe  himself  and  procure 
food.  If,  perchance,  he  is  enabled  to  lay  aside  a  few 
pieces  of  yellow  metal,  yet  the  reflection  will  sometimes 
come,  "  Of  what  use  can  this  be  to  me,  I  must  soon 
pass  away  from  earth,  and  as  I  cannot  carry  these 
things  with  me,  of  what  use  are  they  to  me?"  And  still 
the  question  comes — to  what  end  have  I  lived  ?  Let 
us  here  try  to  explain  and  to  illustrate.  Man,  we  have 
seen,  is  but  a  part  of  "  one  stupendous  whole."  In 
other  words,  he  is  but  one  of  the  products  of  the  great 
intelligent  force  that  lies  behind  and  produces  and 
moves  the  whole  universe.  A  grain  of  sand,  a  blade  of 
grass,  a  pine  tree,  a  mountain,  could  with  as  much 
reason  assume  to  judge  of  the  meaning  of  their  exist- 
ence as  man.  We,  in  common  with  all  things,  animate 


THE    MISSION    AND    DUTY    OF    MAN.  33 

and  inanimate,  are  alike  products  of  the  divine  intelli- 
gence. Can  the  clay  judge  the  potter  ?  Have  we  not 
the  right  to  presume,  and  is  it  not  our  reasonable  duty 
to  presume,  that  the  power  that  produces  and  fashions 
us  and  all  things  knows  more  than  ourselves  ?  That 
power,  we  are  assured,  is  not  malignant.  It  could  not 
have  sent  us  into  existence  to  punish  us — for  in  this 
case  it  would  have  been  better  that  we,  and  all  things, 
should  not  have  existed.  Why  is  it  that  we  have  in 
our  own  nature  a  something  that  we  call  conscience, 
that  approves  what  is  right  and  condemns  what  is 
wrong  ?  Why  are  we,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  compelled 
to  condemn  cruelty,  untruth  and  injustice?  Simply, 
because  we  have  something  of  the  god-like  within  us. 
We  all  feel  that  the  thing  that  is  false  and  unjust  must 
pass  away.  There  is  no  man  so  low  down,  there  is  no 
soul  stained  so  foully  with  sin  but  is  compelled  to  love  the 
good,  the  beautiful  and  true,  and  hate  that  which  is  false. 

"  The  darkest  night  that  shrouds  the  sky 

Of  beauty  hath  a  share  ; 
The  blackest  heart  has  signs  to  tell, 
That  God  still  lingers  there. " 

From  what  we  have  here  advanced  we  conclude  that 
the  universe  is  founded  on  immutable  justice,  and  no 
man  can  successfully  fight  against  that  justice.  Sooner 
or  later  that  which  is  untrue  and  unjust  must  pass  away. 

"  And  thus  the  world  goes  round  and  round, 

And  the  genial  seasons  run, 
And  ever  the    truth  comes  uppermost 
And  ever  is  justice  done." 


34  THE    MISSION    AND    DUTY    OF    MAN. 

Now,  this  power  behind  nature  being  just,  and  pos- 
sessing an  intelligence  so  far  beyond  that  of  the  wisest 
of  mortals  that  we  cannot  even  conceive  of  its  immen- 
sity, has  not  made  anything  in  vain.  Our  intelligence, 
glorified  by  faith,  assures  us  that  we  are  in  this  life  for 
a  purpose — that  we  are  in  fact  workmen  placed  here  to 
carry  out  the  wise  and  beneficent  plan  of  God.  An 
architect  plans  a  temple,  and  his  specifications  are  only 
so  many  directions  to  workmen  what  they  are  to  do  for 
its  erection.  He  says  to  one  man,  make  this  founda- 
tion ;  to  another,  build  these  walls  ;  to  a  third,  carve 
that  image  ;  to  a  fourth,  construct  that  roof.  And  thus 
he  places  his  workmen  in  the  various  positions  where 
they  can  be  useful.  But  any  of  these  workmen  might 
say,  "Of  what  use  is  my  work?  I  can  see  no  good, 
no  use  in  it.  It  is  incomplete  in  itself  and  must  end  in 
nothing."  But  the  architect  who  placed  these  men  at 
their  different  tasks,  knew  that  if  every  man  faithfully 
performed  his  own  work,  that  all  their  labors  would 
harmonize  in  the  end,  and  the  result  would  be  a  temple 
of  beauty.  Now,  God  is  our  Great  Architect ;  he  has 
placed  us  in  this  life  to  perform  our  special  and  different 
tasks,  and  though  we  can  see  in  them  only  incomplete- 
ness, yet  God  can  see  that  if  we  will  faithfully  perform 
those  tasks  they  will  harmonize  in  the  end,  and  the  re- 
sults will  be  of  benefit  to  ourselves,  of  use  to  others, 
and  glory  to  Him. 


POWER  OF  MIND  OVER  BODY. 


As  we  have  previously  devoted  a  chapter  to  '*  Mind 
and  Matter,"  our  reflections  in  this  connection  will  prin- 
cipally be  confined  to  the  effect  of  mind  upon  that  par- 
ticular form  of  matter  called  the  human  body.  Here 
it  will  be  necessary  to  state  our  entire  disbelief  in  what 
is  usually  styled  an  axiom  in  philosophy,  namely,  "  that 
every  effect  must  have  its  cause,  and  every  cause  must 
have  its  effect."  Both  as  a  matter  of  reason  and  con- 
sciousness we  deny  this.  What,  for  instance,  is  volition  ? 
It  is  force  in  energy  directed  to  some  particular  end. 
Whence  comes  this  force  ?  We  answer  it  originates  in 
the  invisible  mind.  Mind  is  in  itself  a  first  cause  so 
far  as  volition  is  concerned.  And  the  same  thing  can 
not  be  observed  of  matter.  The  materialist  assumes 
that  mind  is  not  distinct  from  matter,  or  that  mind  is 
not  an  entity  separate  and  apart  from  matter.  If  this 
assumption  was  true,  then  it  would  make  man  a  mere 
machine  to  be  acted  upon  and  moved  by  physical  causes. 
If  matter  has  properties  peculiar  to  itself  so  has  mind, 
and  one  of  these  properties  is  that  it  can  originate 
causes.  This  is  its  nature  ;  it  is  one  of  its  attributes 


36  POWER    OF    MIND    OVER    BODY. 

of  which  all  the  ingenious  reasoning  of  man  cannot  de- 
prive it.  Starting  then  from  this  stand-point,  the  ex- 
planation will  become  easy  as  to  how  mind  can  gain 
such  mastery  over  the  material  body.  It  can  animate 
and  move  it.  It  can  fill  it  with  health  when  wrongly 
directed  with  disease  and  suffering.  When  rightly  di- 
rected by  faith  and  knowledge  it  can  purge  the  body 
from  all  pain  and  impurities. 

Now,  while  this  power  has  been  seen  and  recognized 
in  all  ages  and  countries,  even  by  the  so-called  learned 
physicians,  yet  they  have  always  sought  to  limit  this 
power  or  to  share  it  with  visible  chemicals  and  drugs. 
A  prominent  London  physician  recently  sent  a  commu- 
nication to  the  St.  James  Gazette,  from  which  we  con 
dense  the  following  statement :  "  You  say  you  *  do  not 
quite  grasp  the  scientific  reasons'  which  I  have  tried  to 
adduce  for  the  assertion  that  if  a  sufferer  from  even  *  in- 
curable disease'  will  '  only  firmly  make  up  his  mind  that 
he  is  going  to  get  well,  in  many  cases  his  confidence 
will  be  justified/  These  words  were  not  precisely  the 
words  I  used,  but  I  will  adopt  them.  The  '  scientific 
reasons  '  are  these  :  There  is  in  ninety-nine  cases  out 
of  a  hundred,  a  possibility  of  finding  a  modus  vivendi 
with  disease,  even  though  it  be  organic  and  '  incurable.' 
The  very  first  condition  of  life  is  hope  :  *  While  there 
is  life  there  is  hope,'  and  when  hope  dies  life  is  no 
longer  '  worth  living.'  Nature  is  not  an  artisan  but  an 


POWER    OF    MIND    OVER    BODY.  37 

ar:ist,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  '  ghost '  (or  spirit)  she  has 
contrived  lo  put  a  good  deal  of  *  artistic  finish  '  into  her 
chief  work — man.  This  spirit  is  the  life  of  the  crea- 
tion, and  it  is  a  life  with  more  than  one  source,  if  I  may 
so  say.  Many  live  by  mental  and  nervous  energy. 
The  multitude  of  this  last  class  of  livers  is  very  great ; 
their  bodies  are  wondrously  weak  and  crippled,  but 
their  'go '  and  'spirit'  are  remarkable,  and  they  live 
when  those  around  them  think  they  ought  to  die.  Each 
case  must  be  dealt  with  individually ;  but  the  task  of 
finding  a  modus  vivendi  with  '  incurable  disease  '  is  not 
difficult,  and  if  one  be  found,  the  very  fact  of  relieving 
the  diseased  organ  from  the  task  of  playing  first  role  in 
the  drama  of  life  will,  in  a  majority  of  instances,  help 
to  check  the  malady  by  which  it  is  affected. 

"  When  a  man  hopes,  his  brain  is  stimulated,  his  ner- 
vous system  is  healthily  excited,  his  vital  energy  is  in- 
creased. Is  it  not  obvious  that  if  the  vital  energy  be 
increased  disease  may  be  conquered,  or  at  least  outlived 
and  downlived?  Forgive  me  for  being  so  prolix  in  try- 
ing to  be  plain." 

Now,  although  the  writer  above  quoted  calls  this  ex- 
ercise of  mind  power  by  the  simple  name  of  hope,  we 
shall  not  wait  here  to  dispute  about  terms.  We  take  it 
to  be  an  admission  on  his  part  that  there  is  an  invisible 
something  that  has  an  incalculable  and  wondrous  power 
in  curing  disease,  when  the  visible  drug  proves  ineffec- 


38  POWER  OF  MIND  OVER  BODY. 

tual.  The  homoeopath  says,  that  the  allopath  is  a  poi- 
soner ;  the  allopath  calls  the  homoeopath  a  quack  ; 
while  the  eclectic  claims  to  be  wiser  than  both.  But 
while  they  all  admit  the  great  power  of  mind  as  a  cura- 
tive agent  they  also  claim  that  without  the  administra- 
tion of  drugs,  according  to  their  own  learned  method, 
that  diseases  could  not  be  cured.  But  just  at  this  point 
the  magnetic  healer  steps  in,  and  he  says,  "away  with 
your  drugs,  throw  physic  to  the  dogs  ;  I  can  cure  by 
the  invisible  agent  of  magnetism,  while  you  signally 
and  wofully  fail  by  the  application  of  your  visible  nos- 
trums." But  permanent  cures  even  by  magnetism  are 
by  no  means  so  certain  as  its  votaries  are  wont  to  claim 
for  it.  At  one  time  there  was  a  great  rage  for  magnets, 
but  notwithstanding  the  numerous  experiments  on  the 
subject,  no  satisfactory  conclusions  have  been  arrived 
at  on  the  subject.  It  is  now  about  a  century  ago  that 
experiments  of  this  nature  were  first  made,  and  yet 
to-day  it  is  by  no  means  established  that  the  magnet  is 
of  any  remedial  value  whatever.  Professor  Charcot,  of 
Paris,  made  many  experiments  on  patients  with  mag- 
nets, and  he  states  that  he  has  no  faith  whatever  in  the 
remedial  efficacy  of  the  magnet,  except  as  it  influenced 
the  imagination  of  the  patient.  This  is  another  admis- 
sion of  the  power  of  mind,  though  Mons.  Charcot  tries 
to  limit  and  explain  it  by  the  word  imagination. 

History  is  replete  with  cases  showing  the  effect  of 


POWER  OF  MIND  OVER  BODY.  39 

mind  over  the  body.  There  is  the  account  of  the  man 
who  was  condemned  to  death  for  a  crime  that  has  been 
so  frequently  set  forth  in  medical  works.  Some  phy- 
sicians obtained  permission  from  the  authorities  to 
perform  an  experiment  on  this  man  previous  to  his 
execution.  They  bandaged  his  eyes,  laid  him  on  a 
couch,  and  caused  him  to  hold  his  head  over  a  bucket 
of  water.  They  then  punctured  his  neck  with  a  small 
instrument,  but  not  sufficient  to  cause  the  blood  to  flow. 
But  they  tried  to  convey  to  his  mind  the  belief  that 
the  blood  was  flowing,  by  dropping  some  water  from  a 
smaller  utensil  into  the  bucket.  At  first  they  caused 
the  water  to  drop  slowly,  and  then  increased  its  falling. 
As  this  increased  the  man  grew  faint,  his  face  became 
livid,  his  pulse  became  weaker  and  weaker,  and  the 
experimenters  believing  the  man  would  die,  ceased 
their  operations  and  he  at  once  resumed  his  wonted 
vitality.  But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  cite  these  cases 
from  written  history?  E very-day  observation  will 
furnish  us  with  proofs  on  the  subject.  The  best 
authorities  are  almost  unanimous  in  their  belief  that 
there  is  no  sure  cure  for  confirmed  habits  of  inebriety 
unless  the  efforts  in  that  direction  are  aided  by  a 
strong  exercise  of  the  will.  In  those  localities  that  are 
subject  to  attacks  of  cholera  or  deadly  fevers,  all  ob- 
servers are  agreed  that  more  persons  die  through  fear 
than  from  any  other  cause. 


40  POWER  OF  MIND  OVER  BODY. 

Another  leading  English  physician,  in  writing  to  the 
London  Times  in  1884,  has  some  pertinent  remarks 
upon  the  effect  that  the  mind  has  over  the  body.  We 
make  the  following  extracts  from  his  communication  : 

"Now,  the  first  observation  I  am  anxious  to  make  is, 
that  in  the  majority — yes,  without  hesitation,  I  affirm, 
the  majority — of  these  cases  it  is  not  true  that  the  lives 
of  the  condemned  will  be  one  year,  or  even  one  day, 
shorter  than  the  average  longevity  of  persons  of  their 
age  and  class  who  are  presumed  to  be  perfectly  healthy. 
I  will  go  further  and  say  this — the  dread  they  endure 
and  the  precautions  they  are  compelled  to  take  not 
only  do  not  tend  to  lengthen  their  lives,  but  are  cal- 
culated to  abridge  them.  Long  and  careful  observation 
of  what  are  called  "  diseased  lives  "  has  led  me  to  the 
conclusion  that,  eliminating  the  depressing  and  morbid 
influence  of  that  self-consciousness  which  is  bred  of  a 
condemned  or  suspected  life,  a  man  is  just  as  well  as  he 
feels,  taking  the  average  of  a  sufficient  period  to  cover 
the  cycle  of  an  average  mode  of  existence.  Most  lives, 
however  monotonous  they  may  be,  are  marked  by  a 
certain  rhythmical  succession  "  of  ups  and  downs." 
Take  the  mean  of  these  and  that  will  be  the  standard 
and  base  of  probabilities  as  regards  the  reasonable  "  ex- 
pectancy "  of  life,  let  what  will  be  the  matter  with  the 
individual.  Disease  kills  more  victims  through  the 
mind  then  by  the  body.  If  medicine  were  so  precise 


POWER  OF  MIND  OVER  BODY.  41 

a  science  that  a  "  prognosis"  could  be  worked  out  on 
trustworthy  data,  something  like  authority  might  be 
held  to  attach  to  the  dictum  of  the  family  doctor  or 
consulting  physician  ;  but  this  is  not  the  fact,  and  obser- 
vation and  experience  combine  to  show  that  the  dura- 
tion of  any  particular  life  is  beyond  ken  and  out  of 
reach  of  even  shrewd  guessing  until  the  approach  of 
death  is  indicated  by  signs  intelligible  to  all. 

"  What  is  the  moral  to  be  drawn  from  these  general 
conclusions  ?  Simply  this — let  no  one,  young  or  old, 
be  so  foolish  as  to  be  depressed  by  the  dictum  of  the 
physician  or  surgeon  who,  with  portentous  shake  of  the 
head,  gives  a  despairing  opinion.  I  repeat,  that  I 
believe  that  more  persons  are  killed  by  '  the  fear  of 
death '  than  by  disease. 

"  I  know  these  assertions  will  be  stigmatized  as  rash, 
and  I  shall  be  condemned  for  making  them  ;  but  I  do 
so  advisedly  ;  I  believe  medicine  as  a  science  discredits 
medicine  as  an  art.  I  am  quite  sure  it  does  as  far  as 
prognosis  is  concerned.  On  the  other  hand,  medicine 
as  an  art  owes  as  much,  or  more,  to  the  ministry  of 
hope  as  to  the  influence  of  drugs." 

Surely  these  opinions,  coming  from  a  man  wrho  was 
taught  from  his  youth  to  believe  that  any  disease  would 
succumb  to  drugs,  if  only  the  right  ones  could  be 
administered,  are  entitled  to  our  serious  consideration. 
Who  can  be  blamed,  after  such  opinions  as  these,  from 
doubting  the  power  of  drugs  to  cure  disease  ? 


LAWS  OF  NATURE. 


In  the  presentation  of  the  theory  of  the  mind-cure  to 
persons  who  have  never  given  the  subject  any  consid- 
eration, amongst  the  common  objections  made  are  the 
following  :  "  But  you  do  not  profess  to  cure  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  laws  of  nature  ?  Do  you  work  in  harmony 
with  the  laws  of  nature  ?  Do  you  not  recognize  that 
there  are  peculiarities  in  certain  diseases  ;  and  have  not 
certain  herbs  and  mineral  substances  qualities  stamped 
upon  them  by  their  creator,  and  that,  do  what  you  will, 
you  have  to  follow  the  laws  and  methods  of  nature  or 
you  must  fail  in  your  operations  ?"  To  all  these  ques- 
tions we  answer,  that  we  work  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  God,  and  not  in  opposition  to  them.  The  only 
difference  between  us  is,  that  we  call  to  obr  aid  the  laws 
of  invisible  mind,  and  not  the  laws  that  bind  and  govern 
material  drugs.  There  are  men  calling  themselves  phi- 
losophers, who  write  very  learnedly  about  the  laws  of 
nature — they  use  technical  terms  and  reason  after  the 
most  approved  scholastic  methods  of  logic — but  though 
they  turn  their  logic  mills  very  artistically,  yet  they  do 
not  grind  us  out  one  kernel  of  nourishing  corn.  They 


44  LAWS    OF    NATURE. 

are  like  some  of  the  equations  in  algebraic  school  books 
— there  are  plus  and  minus,  a  great  deal  of  study  and 
differentiating,  but  when  the  problem  is  finished  we  find 
that  it  ends  in  zero.  After  all  the  learned  treatises  that 
have  been  written  about  the  laws  of  nature,  what  do 
we  know  of  them,  what  can  we  say  of  them  ?  The 
only  complete  definition  that  we  can  give  of  the  laws 
of  nature  is,  that  they  are  the  laws  which  produce  the 
phenomena  of  nature.  We  cannot  go  behind  them,  and 
we  cannot  explain  .the  why  and  the  wherefore  of  either 
the  laws  or  the  phenomena.  Who  can  explain  why  one 
seed  put  into  the  ground  should  produce  a  blue  flower, 
and  another  a  red — a  third  an  oak  and  another  a  pine 
tree.  If  we  say  these  things  produce  after  their  kind,  we 
make  no  explanation  of  the  fact — we  merely  affirm  that 
things  are  as  they  are. 

We  are  accustomed  to  say  that  the  laws  of  nature  act 
with  unerring  uniformity.  But  what  do  we  know  of 
their  uniformity  ?  That  uniformity  may  be  cut  off  or 
abrogated  by  the  intervention  of  some  other  law.  Let 
a  man  stand  in  the  middle  of  a  room,  holding  in  his 
hand  a  small  piece  of  steel — he  opens  his  hand  with  the 
palm  downwards  and  the  steel  falls  to  the  floor.  Why 
does  it  fall?  In  obedience  to  the  law  of  gravitation, 
one  of  the  widest  add  best  known  of  the  laws  of  nature. 
Suppose,  instead  of  falling  to  the  floor  it  had  ascended 
to  the  ceiling  and  there  adhered  ?  "  But  this  is  not  pos- 


LAWS    OF    NATURE.  45- 

sible,"  says  some  one,  "  for  that  would  be  contrary  to  a 
well-known  law  of  nature."  By  no  means.  Place  a 
magnet  of  sufficient  force  in  the  ceiling,  and  your  steel 
flies  upwards  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  the  magnet, 
and  this  law  is  just  as  much  a  law  of  nature,  and  no 
more  and  no  less,  as  the  law  of  gravitation.  It  is  a  law~ 
of  nature  that  if  water  is  subjected  to  a  certain  cold 
temperature  that  it  will  become  solid  ice,  but  that  law 
will  be  rendered  inoperative  and  overcome  by  the  warm 
rays  of  the  sun.  They  are  both  equally  the  laws  of 
nature,  though  acting  apparently  in  opposite  directions. 
These  examples  will  serve  as  illustrations  of  the  fact 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  constant  uniformity  in 
the  operation  of  any  law.  Other  laws  are  brought  into 
play  that  render  these  laws  inoperative.  So  that  we 
can  lay  down  no  laws  for  nature  and  say  that  they  are 
never  contravened.  All  we  can  do,  is  to  observe  the 
operations,  record  them,  and  learn  wisdom  and  humility. 
Now,  what  do  we  know  of  the  laws  of  mind?  We 
answer,  almost  nothing.  It  is  only  here  and  there 
that  we  have  observed  a  few  facts,  and  from  these  we 
have  not  as  yet  been  enabled  to  formulate  but  few 
principles.  But  what  we  do  know  is  sufficient  to  con- 
vince us  that  the  laws  of  mind  can  override  the  laws  of 
matter  and  hold  them  as  nothing.  So  that  when  we 
say  a  thing  cannot  be  done  because  it  is  in  opposition 
to  the  laws  of  nature,  let  us  consider  that  until  we 


46  LAWS    OF    NATURE. 

know  all  the  laws  of  nature  and  all  the  laws  of  mind, 
we  are  not  in  a  position  to  pronounce  anything  impos- 
sible. Fortunately,  we  have  facts  both  in  sacred  and 
secular  history  that  convince  us  of  the  almost  omnipo- 
tent power  of  mind  over  matter  and  its  laws.  Christ 
did  not  walk  the  water  by  destroying  a  law  of  nature, 
but  by  calling  to  his  aid  the  law  of  mind,  and  by  the 
aid  of  this  law  he  performed  his  so-called  miracles  and 
effected  marvelous  cures.  And  as  in  essence  we  are 
sure  that  our  minds  are  one  with  God,  so  in  proportion 
to  our  possession  of  the  same,  and  faith  in  its  power, 
we '  shall  be  enabled  to  overcome  all  other  laws  and 
effect  cures.  And,  however  learnedly  people  may  talk 
about  the  laws  of  nature,  and  what  is  impossible,  we 
have  facts  that  set  their  opinions  and  prophecies  at 
defiance,  for  we  hold  that  in  the  direction  of  our  work 
all  things  are  possible  with  God. 


DISEASE  AND  ITS  REMEDIES. 


What  is  disease  ?  It  is  the  result  of  a  departure 
from  the  spiritual  laws  of  God.  Its  true  cause  is  not 
to  be  attributed  to  the  presence,  absence,  or  decay  of 
any  part  or  parts  of  the  human  system.  These  disar- 
rangements are  the  effects  and  not  the  causes  of  the 
disease.  To  remedy  this  state  of  things  we  have  not 
to  seek  to  build  up  materiality,  but  to  aim  at  once  to 
call  to  our  aid  the  power  of  spirit.  Our  duty  in  this 
direction,  we  apprehend,  is  so  plain  that  it  needs  no 
further  words  to  make  it  clear.  This  being  conceded, 
the  question  arises,  with  what  agents  should  we  ap- 
proach these  mental  causes  ?  Matter,  we  have  already 
seen,  does  not  control  or  move  mind.  It  is  mind  that 
controls  and  moves  matter.  Matter  being  non-intelli- 
gent, what  effect  can  it  have  upon  intelligent  minds  ? 
As  this  matter  in  itself  has  neither  sense,  feeling  nor 
will,  it  can  have  no  dynamic  power  over  mind,  and  can 
make  no  departure  from  God's  spiritual  laws,  so  that  we 
entirely  put  aside  and  ignore  it  as  a  curative  agent. 
The  very  simplicity  of  this  method  should  be  sufficient 
to  recommend  it  to  the  reflective  mind.  In  mechanics, 


48  DISEASE    AND    ITS    REMEDIES. 

other  things  being  equal,  the  simplest  machines  are  the 
most  efficient.  "  It  is  surprising,"  says  a  philosopher, 
"how  all  things  in  the  universe  resolve  themselves  into 
results  of  a  few  principles  at  last."  In  chemistry,  many 
things  that  were  once  considered  to  be  primary  elements 
have  been  found  to  be  compounds,  so  that  at  last  the 
chemist  may  find  that  his  metals  and  minerals  are  but 
the  results  of  a  very  few  primary  elements.  In  the 
science  of  color,  for  instance — a  few  years  ago  a  man 
would  have  been  styled  a  fanatic  or  a  madman,  who 
would  have  denied  the  existence  of  seven  primary 
colors.  Those  who  were  supposed  to  know  most  on 
the  subject  proved  beyond  a  doubt  that  it  required 
seven  primary  colors  from  which  to  make  all  other 
colors  and  shades  of  color,  namely:  violet,  indigo,  blue, 
green,  yellow,  orange  and  red.  But  how  stands  the 
fact  to-day  ?  They  now  only  recognize  three  primaries, 
namely  :  blue,  yellow  and  red.  Some  German  philos- 
opher asserts  that  the  time  will  come  when  all  colors 
will  be  shown  to  be  composed  of  two  original  colors. 
This  cannot  be  scoffed  at  as  a  mere  freak  of  the  imagin- 
ation, for  it  must  be  recollected  that  most  of  the  different 
chemical  substances  are  not  different  because  they  are 
composed  of  different  ingredients,  but  because  of  their 
different  proportions  of  the  same  elements.  Starch, 
sugar,  vinegar  and  alcohol,  are  very  dissimilar  in  their 
nature  and  effects,  but  they  are  all  alike  composed  of 


DISEASE    AND    ITS    REMEDIES.  49 

the  same  elements.  It  is  only  the  different  proportions 
in  which  these  elements  are  mixed  together  that  give 
them  their  distinctive  differences.  Now,  the  names  of 
disease  is  legion,  but  we  trace  them  to  one  cause,  and 
for  them  we  have  but  one  cure. 

The  world  has  for  ages  been  perplexed,  mystified 
and  imposed  upon  by  the  so-called  science  of  medicine. 
A  list  of  technical  and  high-sounding  words  and  phrases 
have  been  wrapped  around  diseases  and  their  remedies 
until  the  multitude  stands  in  awe  of  the  long  array.  It 
is  too  often  the  case  that  people  reverence  what  they  do 
not  understand.  Call  whiskey  by  its  medical  name, 
"spiritus  frumenti"  and  it  at  once  inspires  respect.  In- 
stead of  saying  that  a  child  has  measles,  state  that  it  is 
afflicted  with  "rubiola"  and  the  same  disease  with  dif- 
ferent names  is  thought  to  be  two  distinct  diseases. 
Now,  we  desire  to  tear  aside  this  word-fringe,  and  let 
in  the  light  of  Divine  truth  upon  the  whole  mass  of 
jargon  and  quackery. 

Even  amongst  physicians  we  find  skeptics  regarding 
the  utility  of  their  own  practice.  Many  openly  admit 
that  they  have  no  very  confident  faith  in  the  certainty 
of  their  art,  and  some  deny  the  possibility  of  their  ever 
constructing  a  scientific  system  of  remedial  methods. 
"  Medicine,"  says  Papillon,  "  may  be  summed  up  as  the 
application  of  certain  sciences.  Whenever  these 
sciences  may  advance,  that  art  should  do  so  also."  But 


OF  THF 

TTTk-r  T-T-r--^, 


50  DISEASE    AND    ITS    REMEDIES. 

whatever  may  be  said  of  the  other  sciences,  we  deny 
that  the  science  of  medicine,  as  a  curative  or  preventive 
system,  has  advanced  one  step — and  this  is  because  the 
agents  it  employs  are  false.  Medical  men  have  given  their 
time,  talents  and  learning,  to  the  subject  ;  but  in  spite 
of  them,  diseases  have  increased  and  multiplied.  Their 
studies  with  regard  to  the  human  system — its  construc- 
tion, functions  of  the  organs,  their  diseases  and  treat- 
ment— are  divided  as  follows:  Anatomy  teaches  how 
the  organs  are  made ;  physiology  how  they  perform 
their  functions  in  a  healthy  state;  pathology  how  they 
discharge  them  in  a  diseased  state ;  and  therapeutics 
how  they  discharge  them  in  regard  to  media,  that  is  to 
say,  the  medial  agencies  of  every  kind  with  which  they 
may  be  brought  in  contact.  Now,  the  modern  physic- 
ian relies  upon  all  these  for  his  knowledge  how  to 
ward  off  or  cure  disease.  With  the  first  two,  anatomy 
and  physiology,  we  have  no  quarrel,  but  against  pathol- 
ogy and  therapeutics  we  proclaim  a  bold  and  open  war. 
The  practice  of  medical  men,  in  these  directions,  has 
been  fraught  with  incalculable  mischief  to  the  health  of 
the  community.  The  most  honest  and  outspoken  of 
them  have  so  confessed. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  has  said:  "  It  is  impossible  to 
calculate  the  mischief  Hippocrates  has  done  by  first 
marking  nature  with  his  name,  and  afterwards  letting 
her  loose  upon  sick  people." 


DISEASE    AND    ITS    REMEDIES.  51 

Dr.  Mason  Good,  a  learned  professor  in  London, 
said  :  "  the  effects  of  medicine  on  the  human  system  are 
in  the  highest  degree  uncertain,  except,  indeed,  that 
they  have  already  destroyed  more  lives  than  war,  pes- 
tilence and  famine  combined." 

Dr.  Benjamin  Waterhouse,  professor  in  Harvard 
University,  says  :  "  I  am  sick  of  learned  quackery." 

Some  other  distinguished  physician  has  said:  "It 
would  be  better  for  mankind  if  all  the  drugs  were 
thrown  into  the  sea,  but  worse  for  the  fishes." 

Dr.  James  Johnson,  of  England,  surgeon-extraordi- 
nary to  the  king,  says  :  "I  declare  my  conscientious 
opinion,  founded  on  long  observation  and  reflection, 
that  if  there  was  not  a  single  physician,  surgeon,  apoth- 
ecary, man-midwife,  chemist,  druggist  or  drug  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  there  would  be  less  sickness  and  less 
mortality." 

Why  these  failures  ?  Mainly  because  the  physician 
of  to-day  has  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  predeces- 
sors. He  reads  in  his  books  that  certain  diseases  are 
known  by  certain  symptoms,  and  that  certain  drugs  ad- 
ministered according  to  the  quantity  and  method  laid 
down,  will  effect  cures.  His  diagnosis  is  often  of  the 
shallowest  kind,  but  even  when  correct  his  remedies 
are  still  of  the  conventional  description,  and  if,  through 
the  vitality  of  the  patient  or  by  the  power  of  mind,  a 
cure  is  effected,  he  tries  to  convince  his  patient  that  his 


52  DISEASE   AND    ITS    REMEDIES. 

recovery  is  entirely  due  to  his  careful  administration  of 
the  prescribed  drugs.  Thus  a  false  over-arching  faith 
has  grown  up  in  the  efficacy  of  these  poisons.  The 
Israelites  of  old  are  no  more  to  be  condemned  for  their 
worship  of  the  golden  calf  set  up  in  the  wilderness,  than 
are  the  masses  for  their  idolatry  of  the  medical  drugs 
set  up  amidst  humanity  in  these  days  of  enlightenment. 
We  are  endeavoring  to  wean  them  from  their  false 
faith,  and  point  them  to  the  only  true  God.  The  ma- 
gicians have  thrown  down  their  rods,  and  now  we  throw 
down  our  rod  of  mind-cure,  and  it  will  swallow  up  all 
the  rest. 


SCRIPTURAL  ARGUMENTS. 


We  have  as  yet  taken  no  position  for  which  we  can- 
not find  scriptural  authority.  The  good  Bishop  Cum- 
berland said  :  "  I  read  my  Bible  as  I  read  a  book  of 
facts,  and  I  put  upon  those  facts  such  an  interpretation 
as  an  enlightened  Christian  conscience  enables  me  to 
do."  This  is  just  the  liberty  we  take  for  ourselves  and 
concede  to  others.  We  are  advancing  no  new  doctrine, 
but  only  aiming  to  give  force  and  vitality  to  an  old  one 
—a  doctrine  taught  and  practised  by  the  Master.  It 
appears  to  be  assumed  by  large  masses  of  church  mem- 
bers, that  Christianity  consists  in  passing  a  life  of  praise 
and  prayer,  and  preaching  against  the  moral  evils  of  the 
world.  Christ  taught  both  by  precept  and  example 
that  one  of  the  chief  duties  of  life  was  to  cure  suffering 
and  banish  bodily  disease.  The  ancient  temples  were 
at  once  church  and  hospital.  The  early  Christians  were 
healers,  conceiving  it  to  be  their  imperative  duty  to  fol- 
low in  Christ's  footsteps,  for  they  felt  the  truth  of  the 
saying,  "  Except  ye  have  the  spirit  of  Christ  ye  are 
none  of  his."  We  feel  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  dam- 
aging omissions  in  the  lives  of  modern  Christians  that 


54  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENTS. 

sufficient  prominence  has  not  been  given  to  the  healing 
of  disease.  And,  further,  though  they  speak  of  faith 
as  a  necessary  thing  to  spiritual  salvation,  yet  they  have 
lost  sight  of  it  as  a  word  full  of  meaning,  and  having 
direct  reference  to  the  curing  of  all  bodily  disease. 
Christ  constantly  spoke  of  faith  as  the  great  and  grand 
requisite  in  everything,  especially  to  the  curing  of  di- 
sease. He  never  advised  his  followers  to  have  recourse 
to  the  use  of  drugs,  for  he  did  not  use  them  himself,  evi- 
dently not  recognizing  them  as  useful  or  necessary 
agents.  Let  us  follow  him  through  some  of  his  jour- 
neys, and  aim  to  learn  lessons  therefrom.  We  subjoin 
several  passages  from  the  scriptures,  with  their  places 
of  reference.  When  he  had  ended  his  sermon  on  the 
mount,  wherein  he  spake  as  man  never  spake,  the  first 
act  he  performed  was  to  cure  a  case  of  bodily  infirmity: 

"When  he  was  come  down  from  the  mountain,  great 
multitudes  followed  him.  And  behold,  there  came  a  leper 
and  worshipped  him,  saying,  Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou 
canst  make  me  clean.  And  Jesus  put  forth  his  hand, 
and  touched  him,  saying,  I  will,  be  thou  clean.  And 
immediately  his  leprosy  was  cleansed."  Matt.  8;  i,  2,  3. 

Here  we  take  occasion  to  remark  that  this  was  an  ex- 
hibition of  the  omnipotence  of  mind  over  matter.  We 
desire  to  record  not  only  cases  of  cure,  but  also  to  state 
events  wherein  he  showed  the  power  of  mind  over  in- 
animate things. 


SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENTS.  55 

"  And  when  he  was  entered  into  a  ship,  his  disciples 
followed  htm.  And  behold,  there  arose  a  great  tempest 
in  the  sea,  insomuch  that  the  ship  was  covered  with  the 
waves,  but  he  was  asleep.  And  his  disciples  came  to 
him  and  awoke  him,  saying,  Lord,  save  us ;  we  perish. 
And  he  saith  unto  them,  Why  are  ye  fearful,  O  ye  of 
little  faith  !  Then  he  arose,  and  rebuked  the  winds 
and  the  sea  ;  and  there  was  a  great  calm."  Matt.  8  ; 
23  to  26. 

"  And  behold,  they  brought  to  him  a  man  sick  of  the 
palsy,  lying  on  a  bed  ;  and  Jesus,  seeing  their  faith,  said 
unto  the  sick  of  the  palsy,  Son,  be  of  good  cheer ;  thy 
sins  are  forgiven  thee."  Matt.  10;  2. 

In  the  above  quotation  it  will  be  observed  that  sick- 
ness is  spoken  of  as  a  sin.  It  will  be  necessary  to  bear 
this  in  mind,  for  it  is  by  sin  that  diseases  are  in  the 
world,  and  in  proportion  as  we  overcome  sin  we  destroy 
disease ;  but  we  can  never  overcome  sin  by  the  use  of 
drugs. 

Again,  in  Matt.  9  ;   i  to  29,  it  is  recorded  : 

"While  he  spake  these  things  unto  them,  behold, 
there  came  a  certain  ruler,  and  worshiped  him,  saying, 
My  daughter  is  even  now  dead  :  but  come  and  lay  thy 
hand  upon  her  and  she  shall  live.  And  Jesus  arose, 
and  followed  him,  and  so  did  his  disciples.  (And  be- 
hold, a  woman  which  was  diseased  with  an  issue  of 
blood  twelve  years,  came  behind  him,  and  touched  the 


56  SCRIPTURAL   ARGUMENTS. 

hem  of  his  garment.  For  she  said  within  herself,  If  I 
may  but  touch  his  garment,  I  shall  be  whole.  But 
Jesus  turned  him  about,  and  when  he  saw  her,  he  said, 
Daughter,  be  of  good  comfort:  thy  faith  hath  made 
thee  whole.  And  the  woman  was  made  whole  from 
that  hour.)  And  when  Jesus  came  into  the  ruler's 
house,  and  saw  the  minstrels  and  the  people  making  a 
noise,  he  said  unto  them,  Give  place  :  for  the  maid  is 
not  dead,  but  sleepeth.  And  they  laughed  him  to  scorn. 
But  when  the  people  were  put  forth,  he  went  in,  and 
took  her  by  the  hand,  and  the  maid  arose.  And  the 
fame  hereof  went  abroad  into  all  that  land.  And  when 
Jesus  departed  thence,  two  blind  men  followed  him, 
crying,  and  saying,  Thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on 
us.  And  when  he  was  come  into  the  house,  the  blind 
men  came  to  him:  and  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Believe 
ye  that  I  am  able  to  do  this?  They  said  unto  him, 
Yea,  Lord.  Then  touched  he  their  eyes,  saying,  Ac- 
cording to  your  faith,  be  it  unto  you." 

The  great  lesson  in  the  above  to  be  learned  is,  that 
the  power  of  faith  in  those  possessing  disease  is  some- 
times a  necessary  element. 

As  the  parable  of  the  sower  has  some  bearing  upon 
the  thorough  success  in  some  cases  of  the  faith  or  mind- 
cure,  we  here  quote  it  :  "  And  he  spake  many  things  un- 
to them  in  parables,  saying,  Behold,  a  sower  went  forth 
to  sow  ;  and  when  he  sowed  some  seeds  fell  by  the 


SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENTS.  57 

way-side,  and  the  fowls  came  and  devoured  them  up  ; 
some  fell  upon  stony  places,  where  they  had  not  much 
earth  ;  and  forthwith  they  sprung  up,  because  they  had 
no  deepness  of  earth  :  and  when  the  sun  was  up,  they 
were  scorched  ;  and  because  they  had  no  root,  they 
withered  away.  And  some  fell  among  thorns  ;  and  the 
thorns  sprung  up,  and  choked  them  :  but  other  fell  into 
good  ground,  and  brought  forth  fruit,  some  an  hundred- 
fold, some  sixty-fold,  some  thirty-fold.  Who  hath  ears 
to  hear,  let  him  hear." — Matt.  13;  7  to  9. 

Indeed,  so  necessary  does  faith  seem  to  be  in  the 
case  of  some  persons,  that  it  appears  to  be  almost  im- 
possible to  cure  them  without  their  own  individual  faith 
in  the  power  of  God  to  restore  them  to  health.  Hence, 
it  is  recorded  of  Christ's  sojourn  in  a  certain  place  : 
"  And  he  did  not  many  mighty  works  there,  because  of 
their  unbelief." 

Below  will  be  found  several  scriptural  accounts  of 
cases  of  cure  :  "And  when  they  were  come  to  the  multi- 
tude, there  came  to  him  a  certain  man  kneeling  down 
to  him,  and  saying,  Lord,  have  mercy  on  my  son  ;  for 
he  is  a  lunatic,  and  sore  vexed,  for  oft-times  he  falleth 
into  the  fire,  and  oft  into  the  water.  And  I  brought 
him  to  thy  disciples,  and  they  could  not  cure  him. 
Then  Jesus  answered  and  said,  O  faithless  and  perverse 
generation,  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you?  How  long 
shall  I  suffer  you  ?  Bring  him  hither  to  me.  And  Je- 


58  SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENTS. 

sus  rebuked  the  devil,  and  he  departed  out  of  him  :  and 
the  child  was  cured  from  that  very  hour.  Then  came 
the  disciples  to  Jesus  apart,  and  said,  Why  could  not 
we  cast  him  out  ?  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Because 
of  your  unbelief:  for  verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  ye  have 
faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this 
mountain,  Remove  hence  to  yonder  place,  and  it  shall 
remove  ;  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you." — 
Matt.  1 6  ;  14  to  20. 

"  And  behold,  two  blind  men  sitting  by  the  wayside, 
when  they  heard  that  Jesus  passed  by,  cried  out,  saying, 
Have  mercy  on  us,  O  Lord,  thou  son  of  David.  And 
the  multitude  rebuked  them,  because  they  should  hold 
their  peace  ;  but  they  cried  the  more,  saying,  Have 
mercy  on  us,  O  Lord,  thou  son  of  David.  And  Jesus 
stood  still,  and  called  them,  and  said,  What  will  ye  that 
I  shall  do  unto  yon?  They  say  unto  him,  Lord,  that 
our  eyes  may  be  opened.  So  Jesus  had  compassion  on 
them,  and  touched  their  eyes  :  and  immediately  their 
eyes  received  sight,  and  they  followed  him." — Matt.  20; 
30  to  34. 

"  And  behold,  there  was  a  woman  which  had  a  spirit 
of  infirmity  eighteen  years,  and  was  bowed  together, 
and  could  in  no  wise  lift  up  herself.  And  when  Jesus 
saw  her,  he  called  her  to  him,  and  said  unto  her, 
Woman,  thou  art  loosed  from  thine  infirmity.  And 
he  laid  his  hands  on  her ;  and  immediately  she 


SCRIPTURAL   ARGUMENTS.  59 

was  made  straight,  and  glorified  God." — Luke  14; 
ii  to  13. 

"  And  as  he  entered  into  a  certain  village,  there  met 
him  ten  men  that  were  lepers,  which  stood  afar  off,  and 
they  lifted  up  their  voices,  and  said,  Jesus,  Master,  have 
mercy  on  us.  And  when  he  saw  them,  he  said  unto 
them.  Go  shew  yourselves  unto  the  priests.  And  it 
came  to  pass,  that,  as  they  went,  they  were  cleansed." — 
Luke  17;  12  to  14. 

"  Then  when  Mary  was  come  where  Jesus  was,  and 
saw  him,  she  fell  down  at  his  feet,  saying  unto  him, 
Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died. 
When  Jesus  therefore  saw  her  weeping,  and  the  Jews 
also  weeping  which  came  with  her,  he  groaned  in  the 
spirit,  and  was  troubled,  and  said,  Where  have  ye  laid 
him  ?  They  say  unto  him,  Lord,  come  and  see.  Jesus 
wept.  Then  said  the  Jews,  Behold  how  he  loved  him  ! 
And  some  of  them  said,  Could  not  this  man,  which 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  have  caused  that  even 
this  man  should  not  have  died  ?  Jesus  therefore  again 
groaning  in  himself,  cometh  to  the  grave.  It  was  a 
cave,  and  a  stone  lay  upon  it.  Jesus  said,  Take  ye 
away  the  stone.  Martha,  the  sister  of  him  that  was 
dead,  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh  : 
for  he  hath  been  dead  four  days.  Jesus  saith  unto  her, 
Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that  if  thou  wouldst  believe,  thou 
shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God  ?  Then  they  took  away 


60  SCRIPTURAL   ARGUMENTS. 

the  stone  from  the  place  where  the  dead  was  laid.  And 
Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  said,  Father,  I  thank  thee 
that  thou  hast  heard  me  :  And  I  knew  that  thou  near- 
est me  always ;  but  because  of  the  people  which  stand 
by,  I  said  it,  that  they  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent 
me.  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  he  cried  with  a 
loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth.  And  he  that  was  dead 
came  forth,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  grave-clothes  ; 
and  his  face  was  bound  about  with  a  napkin.  Jesus 
saith  unto  them,  Loose  him,  and  let  him  go." — St.  John, 
1 1  ;  32  to  44. 

The  above  are  some  of  the  instances  of  cure  by 
Christ.  It  might  be  here  objected  that  though  Christ 
effected  these  cures,  yet  that  they  were  done  by  a  mi- 
raculous power.  Now,  we  do  not  believe  in  miracles, 
that  is,  as  the  popular  mind  understands  them.  Many 
persons'  ideas  of  miracles  are  that  they  are  effects 
brought  about  by  the  rescinding,  cutting  off  or  over- 
riding the  laws  of  nature,  which,  after  all,  are  the  laws 
of  God.  But  we  say  that  God's  laws  never  have  been 
and  never  can  be  set  aside  or  contravened.  Those 
things  recorded  in  the  New  Testament  as  miracles,  and 
the  thousands  of  things  that  have  occurred  since  the 
days  of  Christ  that  are  looked  upon  as  miracles,  are  no 
miracles  at  all.  They  are  the  results  of  laws  that  are 
brought  into  play,  of  which  the  mass  of  people  are  ig- 
norant. Christ  never  claimed  to  perform  miracles. 


SCRIPTURAL    ARGUMENTS.  61 

What  he  did  was  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
of  God.  He  did  not  even  claim  that  he  alone  pos- 
sessed the  power  to  perform  the  things  which  he  did  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  he  said  to  his  followers,  "The  works 
that  I  do  ye  shall  do,  and  greater  than  these."  Peter 
cured  the  lame  man,  Paul  restored  the  cripple,  and 
Christ's  disciples  everywhere  went  about  curing  di- 
seases. When  they  brought  to  him  cases  which  he 
could  not  cure,  he  simply  said  to  them,  "O  ye  of  little 
faith." 

In  closing  this  chapter  it  will  be  pertinent  to  refer  to 
a  very  common  expression  that  falls  from  the  lips  of 
even  good  Christians.  When  sickness  overtakes  them 
they  speak  of  it  as  an  affliction  from  God.  In  one 
sense  this  is  right,  and  from  another  view  it  is  entirely 
wrong.  Sickness  is  an  affliction  from  God  because  it 
is  the  result  of  a  violation  of  God's  laws.  In  Lamen- 
tations iii,  33:  "For  he  doth  not  afflict  willingly,  nor 
grieve  the  children  of  men."  David  says:  "No  good 
thing  will  he  withhold  from  them  who  walketh  up- 
rightly." He  is  able  and  willing  to  cure  all  sickness 
and  sorrow  in  those  who  will  seek  him  aright.  In  Ex. 
xxiii,  25  :  He  promises  that  if  the  people  will  hearken 
unto  his  voice,  He  will  take  sickness  away  from  the 
midst  of  them.  In  ii  Chronicle,  16  :  12,  it  is  written: 
"And  Asa  in  the  thirty  and  ninth  year  of  his  reign  was 
diseased  in  his  feet,  until  his  disease  was  exceeding 


62  SCRIPTURAL   ARGUMENTS. 

great :  yet  in  his  disease  he  sought  not  to  .the 
LORD,  but  to  the  physicians.  And  Asa  slept  with  his 
fathers." 

Since  the  days  of  Asa,  just  how  many  have  slept 
with  their  fathers  because  they  "sought  not  to  the  Lord 
but  to  the  physicians,"  it  is  impossible  to  tell.  Doubt- 
less many  millions.  As  many  more  have  lived  lives  of 
suffering  because  their  whole  system  has  been  poisoned 
with  drugs. 


DECLARATION  OF  PRINCIPLES. 


While  in  San  Francisco,  California,  engaged  in  effect- 
ing cures  and  teaching  the  science  of  metaphysical 
healing,  in  the  summer  of  1884,  the  Evening  Bulletin, 
a  paper  that  for  respectability  and  thought  was  consid- 
ered to  occupy  a  leading  position  among  the  journals  of 
that  coast,  made  some  strictures  on  the  healing  method. 
We  were  invited  to  make  a  brief  statement  of  our  views 
and  claims,  for  publication  in  that  paper.  This  we  did, 
and  as  readers  like  to  see  both  sides  of  the  question  dis- 
cussed, we  print  the  communication  and  the  editor's 
answer,  both  appearing  in  the  same  issue  : 

FAITH    CURE    AND    MIND  CURE. 

EDITOR  BULLETIN  : — In  your  last  Friday's  issue  ap- 
peared an  article  under  the  above  heading,  which 
though  it  contained  some  truths,  yet  gave  but  an  imper- 
fect outline  of  the  position  and  claims  of  this  new 
science.  As  I  have  had  considerable  practice  both  as  a 
healer  and  teacher  in  metaphysical  science,  or  as  it  is 
popularly  called  "  the  mind  cure,"  I  venture  to  ask  for 
space  in  your  journal  to  set  forth  what  we  believe,  and 
also  what  we  claim  to  be  able  to  perform. 


64  DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES. 

First — We  contend  that  disease,  whatever  form  it 
may  assume,  is  mental  and  not  physical ;  in  other  words, 
that  all  diseases  are  but  effects,  having  their  origin  in 
the  regions  of  mind  and  not  of  matter.  This  will  seem 
to  persons  of  the  old  school,  a  radical  position  to  take, 
and  yet  a  careful  observation  of  the  writings  of  all 
practitioners  reveal  the  fact  that  they  have  always  recog- 
nized while  administering  their  drugs,  that  after  all,  the 
cheerfulness,  the  hope,  the  faith,  or  to  put  it  tersely,  the 
mind  of  the  patients,  is  the  great  factor  in  restoring 
them  to  health.  What  is  this  but  admitting  that  des- 
pondency, dread,  apprehension  and  fear  are  the  great 
products  of  disease  ? 

Second — we  ignore  drugs  in  whatever  form  adminis- 
tered, as  perfectly  worthless  curative  agents.  All  out- 
ward agents  of  whatever  nature,  although  they  may  for 
a  time  appear  to  cure  disease,  yet,  in  the  end,  prove 
worthless.  They  are  delusions  and  snares.  They  for 
a  time  cover  up  diseases,  which  reappear  in  their  first 
or  some  other  form.  While  many  persons  are  com- 
pelled by  facts  to  admit  that  cures  have  been  effected 
by  our  method,  they  say  that  the  diseases  so  cured  are 
always  what  medical  men  call  of  a  nervous  kind.  This 
is  not  true.  We  recognize  no  limit,  and  acknowledge 
no  classification. 

Third — We  believe  in  one  eternal  and  unchangeable 
God,  who  is  the  same  to-day,  yesterday  and  for  ever. 


DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES.  65 

From  Him  cometh  every  good  and  perfect  gift — even 
the  gift  of  healing  of  disease.  The  early  Christians  al- 
ways practiced  the  gifts  of  healing — and  declared  that 
those  gifts  came  from  God.  Christians  of  to-day,  of 
whatever  sect,  will  not  dare  to  deny  that  Christ  and  his 
followers  possessed  and  practiced  the  power  of  healing, 
but  they  seem  disposed  to  doubt  whether  these  powers 
have  descended  to  modern  times.  We  answer  these 
doubts  by  an  appeal  to  facts  to  be  found  in  San  Francisco 
and  elsewhere.  We  recognize  no  permanent  curative 
agent  except  the  universal  mind  or  God.  The  better  we 
live,  the  closer  becomes  our  relation  to  God,  and  we  can 
draw  from  this  universal  fountain  the  power,  which  if 
applied  by  knowledge,  is  equal  to  the  curing  of  "  all  the 
ills  which  flesh  is  heir  to."  We  hear  much  in  these 
days  of  the  power  of  magnetism,  and  the  influence 
which  departed  spirits  have  upon  the  human  organism. 
Whatever  powers  these  may  have,  we  know  that  they 
are  of  a  limited  and  even  doubtful  character.  All  hu- 
man beings  are  spirits  and  as  such  can  hold  commu- 
nion with  the  Infinite  Spirit,  and  need  not  depend  upon 
departed  friends  to  do  the  work  in  this  mundane  sphere 
which  they  can  do  themselves. 

Fourth — As  all  persons  can  work  out  problems  in 
mathematics  when  they  understand  the  principles,  so 
any  one  can  produce  harmony  in  music  by  ruling  out 
the  discord.  So  also  can  any  one  bring  health  and  har- 


66  DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES. 

mony  into  their  lives  when  they  understand  God's  laws, 
and  how  to  apply  them.  Disease  is  a  discord,  an  error, 
and  we  recognize  no  power  beneath  the  Divine  to  re- 
move it.  When  this  is  recognized  and  acted  upon,  the 
problem  of  disease  or  discord  in  God's  children  will  be 
solved,  and  harmony,  health  and  happiness  will  reign 
upon  the  earth. 

In  penning  this  I  am  conscious  that  I  may  expose 
myself  to  the  ridicule  of  some,  and  to  the  skepticism  of 
others.  These  things  have  always  been  the  heritage 
of  those  who  have  dared  to  step  aside  from  the  beaten 
track,  but  Divine  power  and  the  world  of  fact  will  in 
the  end  win  them  over.  We  feel  with  the  old  thinkers 
"  that  one,  with  God,  is  a  majority."  God  layeth  his 
hand  on  slowly,  but  His  power  is  irresistible.  I  regret 
that  I  cannot  more  fully  express  myself,  but  as  my 
space  must  necessarily  be  limited  in  a  journal  that  is 
published  in  so  many  public  interests,  I  subscribe  my- 
self, respectfully,  JULIA  ANDERSON  ROOT. 

The  learned  editor  replied  as  follows  : 

THE    GIFT    OF    HEALING. 

"An  editorial  which  appeared  in  this  paper  some  days 
ago  on  faith  and  mind  cures  has  elicited  a  reply,  which 
appears  in  another  column.  Of  course  the  writer  does 
not  agree  with  the  views  expressed  in  this  journal.  It 
is  presumed  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  philosophy 


DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES.  67 

of  disease,  including,  of  course,  remedial  agents.  But 
the  diagnosis  which  our  correspondent  gives  is  not  con- 
sistent wijth  any  philosophy  which  has  thus  far  been 
recognized  in  the  world.  It  is  simply  that  all  diseases 
originate  in  the  mind.  They  are  mere  discords  of  the 
soul,  to  be  cured  by  a  direct  interposition  of  Providence, 
which  amounts  to  a  miraculous  intervention  applied  to 
personal  healing.  This  theory  discards  all  secondary 
agents,  such  as  drugs  and  the  help  of  skilled  physicians 
who  know  minutely  the  whole  human  anatomy,  and  who 
have  had  the  advantage  of  the  best  medical  training 
which  the  world  affords.  It  relegates  the  healing  art 
to  a  class  of  persons  who  ignore  the  physical  system 
both  from  policy  and  because  they  actually  know  noth- 
ing about  it,  and  who  prefer,  for  their  own  conscience, 
to  locate  all  diseases  of  the  mind,  and  to  call  for  divine 
assistance  in  removing  them,  counting  human  skill  as 
nothing. 

Now,  there  is  a  class  of  diseases  which  possibly  can 
be  treated  in  this  way  with  some  benefit  to  the  patient. 
In  some  cases  the  disease  is  nothing  more  than  a  delu- 
sion. There  is  a  theory  that  the  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple are  not  sane  on  all  subjects.  There  is  some  degree 
of  abnormalism.  That,  however,  is  a  fanciful  theory, 
founded  on  nothing  more  than  a  class  of  mental  phe- 
nomena which  have  a  close  connection  with  bodily  in- 
firmities. To  say  that  the  victim  of  neuralgia  or  dys- 


68  DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES. 

pepsia,  or  of  a  consuming  fever,  or  of  the  small-pox, 
has  no  physical  disease,  that  his  ailments  are  simply  the 
result  of  a  disease  in  his  mind,  or  a  disease  which  is  to 
be  located  there,  is  simply  absurd.  The  skeptic  has  a 
good  right  to  call  at  once  for  a  demonstration.  The 
individual  whose  mind  is  in  a  perfectly  healthy  condition 
is  prostrated  with  a  fever  or  some  actual  disease,  of 
course  his  mind,  as  a  consequence,  is  affected  by  his 
bodily  condition.  But  that  is  a  secondary  considera- 
tion. The  mind  cure  in  all  this  class  of  cases  is  per- 
fectly hopeless.  The  disease  is  not  there.  It  is  not  a 
discord  in  the  mind  of  the  patient,  but  it  is  a  poison  in 
his  physical  system.  That  cannot  be  removed  by  lay- 
ing on  of  hands,  nor  by  any  degree  of  faith  in  an  un- 
seen power.  There  never  has  been  a  well  authenti- 
cated case  in  modern  times  where  a  patient  was  cured 
in  the  last  stages  of  consumption  by  any  medication  of 
his  mind,  such  as  is  involved  in  the  faith-cure  theory — 
not  a  single  instance  where  a  malignant  cancer  has 
been  cured  by  faith,  or  a  crushed  limb  restored. 

Now,  there  is  a  class  of  diseases,  partly  fictitious  and 
partly  real,  which  are  limited  to  the  nervous  system  and 
the  mind  of  the  victim.  If  the  individual  is  under  a 
delusion  that  something  ails  him,  that  is  the  disease. 
No  doubt  there  are  thousands  in  this  condition.  The 
world  is  full  of  delusions.  What  is  needful  in  such 
cases  is  to  remove  the  delusion,  and  if  it  can  be  re- 


DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES.  69 

moved  by  another  delusion,  perhaps  the  end  justifies 
the  means.  It  might  better  accord  with  the  truth  to 
tell  the  patient  that  nothing  ails  him.  But  in  a  morbid 
condition  of  mind  that  will  not  always  do.  Old  Dr. 
Abernethy  and  other  God-fearing  physicians  would 
have  told  such  patients  that  nothing  under  the  heavens 
ailed  them,  and  that  their  chief  need  was  to  get  out 
into  the  bracing  atmosphere,  and  take  more  cheerful 
views  of  life. 

Just  here  is  room  for  the  play  of  all  sorts  of  quackery. 
How  many  cures  have  been  effected  by  administering 
bread  pills?  That  was  an  old  application  of  the  faith 
cure.  The  patient  believed  that  there  was  great  virtue 
in  the  medicine  and  so  got  well — that  is,  escaped  from 
his  delusion.  In  every  insane  asylum  the  skillful  phy- 
sician knows  that  a  majority  of  his  patients  are  suffer- 
ing from  delusions  which  are  brought  on  by  a  bad  con- 
dition of  the  physical  system.  He  knows  just  how  far 
he  can  go  with  his  mind  cure;  but  he  knows  well 
enough  that  he  cannot  reach  that  ultimatum  without 
first  searching  for  disease  in  the  physical  system  and 
applying  his  remedies  there. 

On  the  theory  which  our  correspondent  promulgates, 
what  a  beneficent  work  might  be  wrought  in  these  asy- 
lums by  the  faith-cure  practice  !  There  are  a  thousand 
people  in  a  single  institution,  all  under  some  sort  of  a 
delusion.  Once  remove  this  and  the  patient  is  well. 


70  DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES. 

It  is  only  a  discord  in  the  mind  !  No  doubt,  any  form 
of  mental  delusion  is  in  the  direction  of  insanity.  It  is 
a  symptom  of  unsound  mentality.  If  the  symptoms  pro- 
gress far  enough  a  case  of  insanity  is  recorded.  But  in 
a  majority  of  such  cases  some  well-chosen  remedial 
agent,  such  as  a  change  of  climate,  travel,  medicine 
wisely  administered,  is  all  that  is  needful  for  the  com- 
plaining party.  And  sometimes  to  be  told  bluntly  that 
there  is  no  serious  thing  the  matter,  is  a  potent  remedy. 
The  province  of  faith  cure  and  mind  cure  we  con- 
ceive to  be  to  exorcise  from  the  mind  of  the  patient  his 
delusions.  The  taint  of  mental  abnormalism  is  now  so 
wide-spread  that  there  is  room  for  remedies  included  in 
faith  cure  and  mind  cure.  These  remedies  cannot  be 
applied  to  physical  ills  in  any  other  than  an  indirect 
way.  When  it  is  perceived  that  the  mind  is  acting  un- 
favorably upon  the  body,  a  restoration  of  the  one  will 
have  a  beneficial  influence  on  the  other.  This  class  of 
nervous  diseases  come  in  time  to  affect  the  body,  pro- 
ducing insomnia,  low  spirits,  loss  of  tone  and  vitality. 
Of  course  if  the  mind  can  be  brought  into  a  healthy  con- 
dition, the  result  will  go  a  long  way  toward  restoring  a 
healthy  tone  to  the  physical  system.  But  when  one  is  run 
over  by  a  locomotive  and  his  legs  are  mashed  to  a 
jelly,  the  faith  cure  must  be  counted  out.  If  anything 
saves  him  it  will  be  the  surgeon's  knife  and  good  nurs- 
ing. When  a  victim  is  overtaken  by  the  yellow  fever 


DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES.  71 

and  the  poison  is  all  in  his  veins,  or  the  cholera  which 
collapses  his  stomach,  the  trouble  is  not  primarily  in 
his  mind.  It  is  absurd  to  refer  this  disease  to  any  such 
source,  and  it  would  be  arrant  quackery  to  depend 
upon  the  expedients  recognized  as  belonging  to  the 
faith  or  mind  cure.  In  the  latter  class  of  remedies  there 
is  room  for  the  occult  and  the  mysterious.  To  this  day 
great  dependence  is  placed  upon  the  incantations  and 
pow-wow  of  medicine  men  among  uncivilized  and  half- 
civilized  people.  But  among  enlightened  people  it  is 
supposed  that  such  remedies  are  discarded;  or  they 
only  furnish  fresh  illustrations  of  the  delusions  which 
have  not  yet  been  banished  from  the  world." 

In  the  above  criticism  the  editor  appears  to  have 
made  some  points  against  this  science,  without  really 
having  done  so.  When  we  say  that  disease  originates 
in  the  mind,  we  do  not  mean  in  all  cases  that  it  origi- 
nates in  the  mind  of  the  patient  or  particular  person 
suffering  from  disease,  but  that  it  has  its  origin  at  some 
time  or  other  in  the  error,  mistake  or  discord  of  mortal 
mind.  Man  is  mysteriously  connected  mentally  with 
his  fellows.  It  was  Pythagoras  who  said  that  if  there 
is  one  poor  suffering  soul  in  this  universe,  all  other 
souls  will  be  affected  until  that  suffering  soul  is  re- 
stored to  health.  The  error,  the  discord  of  one  is  the 
error  and  discord  of  the  whole,  liable  to  be  acted  upon 
by  fear  and  other  agents,  and  made  manifest  as  circum- 


72  DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES. 

stances  may  dictate.  The  editor  is  further  in  error 
when  he  says  that  neuralgia,  dyspepsia,  or  consuming 
fever  cannot  be  cured  by  this  method.  We  recognize 
no  limit  to  this  power  when  properly  applied.  Of  course 
we  do  not  ignore  the  necessity  of  conditions.  Christ  him- 
self recognized  the  necessity  of  conditions  in  effecting 
cures.  What  does  it  mean  when  it  is  stated  :  "And  He 
could  do  no  mighty  works  there  because  of  their  unbe- 
lief "?  Here  was  an  admission  that  belief  or  faith  was 
a  necessary  element  to  success  in  those  particular  cases. 
If  a  man  should  come  to  us  with  a  disease,  and  obsti- 
nately refuse  to  believe  that  we  could  cure  him,  or 
strongly  doubted  that  we  had  any  power  whatever  to 
do  him  any  good,  these  fears  and  doubts  would  go  a 
long  way  in  keeping  him  in  his  diseased  condition.  But 
with  the  perfect  knowledge  in  the  mind  of  the  operator, 
and  a  perfect  faith  in  the  mind  of  the  patient,  we  recog- 
nize no  limit  to  the  cure  of  any  class  of  disease.  For 
the  truth  of  this  we  appeal  to  facts,  some  of  which  are 
to  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  work.  We  do  not  desire 
to  follow  the  learned  editor  through  all  his  objections 
and  quasi-objections.  What  he  urges  mainly  against  the 
mind-cure  can  be  urged  against  cures  by  any  method 
or  process  whatever. 


HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY. 


We  need  no  statistics  to  prove  to  us  the  fearful  prev- 
alence of  disease  and  suffering.  In  one  shape  or  other 
they  are  to  be  found  in  every  locality  and  in  almost 
every  house.  We  may  justly  assume  that  a  vast  deal 
of  suffering  might  be  prevented  by  the  use  of  judicious 
means  within  the  reach  of  every  individual.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  diseases  and  appetites  of  parents  are  trans- 
mitted to  their  offspring.  We  constantly  find  the  chil- 
dren of  those  whe  are  addicted  to  the  use  of  alcohol 
and  tobacco,  manifesting  the  same  desire  for  these 

o 

things  as  their  progenitors.  Though  the  habits,  mind 
and  disposition  of  the  father  have  considerable  influence 
in  determining  the  physical,  mental  and  moral  condition 
of  his  offspring,  yet  they  cannot  be  compared  to  the  in- 
fluences of  the  mother  for  good  or  for  evil  upon  her 
children.  These  remarks  are  forcibly  true  of  the  pe- 
riod preceding  the  time  when  she  becomes  a  mother. 
At  these  times  mothers  are  in  the  habit  of  using  vile 
drugs,  and  when  this  is  not  the  case  they  often  permit 
themselves  to  become  violent  in  temper,  or  they  in- 
dulge in  desponding  moods.  These  can  be  all  obvia- 


74  HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY. 

ted  by  a  knowledge  and  application  of  metaphysical 
science.  When  mothers  understand  and  act  upon  this 
great  Truth,  a  speedy  improvement  will  take  place  in 
the  human  race.  Man  is  an  animal,  and  more  than  an 
animal,  and  it  is  a  shame  to  our  civilization  that  the 
horse,  the  ox,  the  sheep  and  the  hog  have  more  cares 
bestowed  on  them  in  improving  and  perpetuating  their 
species  than  man. 

Montaigne,  in  his  essay  on  the  "  Resemblance  of 
"  Children  to  their  Fathers,"  says  "there  is  a  certain  sort 
"  of  crafty  humility  that  springs  from  presumption  ;  as 
this,  for  example,  that  we  confess  our  ignorance  in 
many  things,  and  are  so  courteous  as  to  acknowledge 
that  there  are  in  works  of  nature  some  qualities  and 
conditions  that  are  imperceptible  to  us,  and  of  which 
our  understanding  cannot  discern  the  means  and  causes  ; 
by  which  honest  declaration  we  hope  to  obtain  that 
people  shall  also  believe  us  of,  those  that  we  say  we 
do  understand.  We  need  not  trouble  ourselves  to 
seek  out  miracles  and  strange  difficulties  ;  methinks 
there  are  such  incomprehensible  wonders  amongst  the 
things  that  we  ordinarily  see  as  surpass  all  difficulties 
of  miracles."  In  his  essay  he  goes  on  and  applies 
these  remarks  to  inherited  peculiarities  of  character, 
figure,  constitution  and  habits.  Many  things  in  nature 
can  be  referred  to  law,  and  we  can  readily  prophecy 
with  a  degree  of  certainty  as  to  what  will  occur,  and 


HEREDITY    AND    LONGEVITY.  75 

sometimes  tell  the  "  how  "  of  their  occurrence.  But  in 
the  matter  of  heredity  this  is  not  possible.  However, 
the  lesson  is  forced  upon  us  that  traits  are  inherited, 
and  in  some  cases  make  their  appearance  after  the  lapse 
of  two  or  three  generations.  Sometimes  they  pertain 
to  the  configuration  of  the  body  ;  at  other  times  to  a 
peculiarity  of  the  countenance  ;  while  in  many  instances 
it  is  matters  of  disposition  alone  that  are  conspicuous. 
One  or  two  of  these  may  be  mentioned.  Montaigne 
states  that  in  the  family  of  Lepidus,  at  Rome,  there 
were  three,  not  successively,  but  by  intervals,  that  were 
born  with  the  same  eye,  covered  with  a  cartilage.  In 
Greece  there  was  a  family,  almost  every  member  of 
which  had  the  crown  of  the  head  pointed  like  a  lance- 
head  ;  all  whose  heads  were  not  so  formed  being  re- 
garded as  illegitimate.  Some  years  ago  there  was  on 
exhibition  in  Europe  a  father  and  son,  named  Jeftichjew, 
whose  faces  were  so  covered  with  hair  as  to  give  them 
the  appearance  of  Skye  terriers  ;  the  hair  was  as  soft 
and  as  white  as  the  fur  of  the  Angora  cat.  A  well 
authenticated  case  is  that  of  a  family  in  England, 
named  Lambert.  The  peculiarity  affecting  this  family 
appeared  first  in  the  person  of  Edward  Lambert,  whose 
whole  body,  except  the  face,  the  palms  of  the  hands, 
and  the  soles  of  the  feet,  was  covered  with  a  sort  of 
shell,  consisting  of  horny  excrescences.  He  was  the 
father  of  six  children,  all  of  whom,  as  soon  as  they  had 


76  HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY. 

reached  the  age  of  six  weeks,  presented  the  same  pecu- 
liarity. Only  one  of  them  lived  ;  he  married  and  trans- 
mitted the  peculiarity  to  all  his  sons.  For  five  genera- 
tions all  the  male  members  of  the  family  were  distin- 
guished by  the  horny  excrescences  which  had  adorned 
the  body  of  Edward  Lambert. 

There  are  many  other  cases  of  inherited  physical 
peculiarities  which  could  be  given,  but  the  above  in- 
stances will  be  found  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  this 
work. 

The  hereditary  transmission  of  qualities  will  be  gen- 
erally admitted,  whether  they  are  physical,  mental  or 
moral,  and  although  wise  and  learned  fathers  do  not 
always  possess  wise  and  learned  children,  still  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  the  transmission  of  intellectual 
forces  and  tendencies.  If  the  ancestry  of  our  poets, 
historians,  scientists  and  warriors  could  be  traced,  we 
should  find  enough  to  convince  us  that  they  possessed 
special  powers,  sufficient  to  account  for  the  transcen- 
dant  powers  in  their  offspring. 

In  this  connection  it  will  be  well  for  our  temperance 
friends  to  learn  a  lesson,  which  to  some  extent  will  af- 
ford them  argument  against  the  use  of  stimulating 
drinks  by  parents.  Dr.  Howe  says  :  "The  children 
of  drunkards  are  deficient  in  bodily  and  vital  energy, 
and  are  predisposed  by  their  very  organization  to  have 
a  craving  for  alcoholic  stimulants.  If  they  pursue  the 


HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY.  77 

course  of  their  fathers,  which  they  have  more  tempta- 
tion- to  follow  and  less  power  to  avoid  than  the  child- 
ren of  the  temperate,  they  add  to  their  hereditary  weak- 
ness, and  increase  the  tendency  to  idiotcy  or  insanity 
in  their  constitution,  and  this  they  leave  to  their  child- 
ren after  them." 

A  sermon  was  preached  by  Robert  Collyer,  of  Chi- 
cago, entitled  "  The  Thorn  in  the  Flesh,"  from  which 
we  make  the  following  extract  :  "  In  the  far-reaching 
influences  that  go  to  every  life,  and  away  backward  as 
certainly  as  forward,  children  are  sometimes  born  with 
appetites  fatally  strong  in  their  nature.  As  they  grow 
up  the  appetite  grows  with  them,  and  speedily  becomes 
a  master,  the  master  or  tyrant,  and  by  the  time  he  ar- 
rives at  manhood  the  man  is  a  slave.  I  heard  a  man 
say  that  for  eight-and-twenty  years  the  soul  within  him 
had  to  stand  like  an  unsleeping  sentinel,  guarding  his 
appetite  for  strong  drink.  To  be  a  man  at  last,  under 
such  a  disadvantage,  not  to  mention  a  saint,  is  as  fine 
a  piece  of  grace  as  can  well  be  seen.  There  is  no 
doctrine  that  demands  a  larger  vision  than  this  of  the 
depravity  of  human  nature."  Let  the  reader  just  think 
of  this.  A  man  for  twenty-eight  years  beset  by  a  de- 
mon, and  yet  not  fall !  Has  the  preacher  overdrawn 
his  picture  ?  We  do  not  want  to  discuss  that  total  de- 
pravity doctrine,  but  we  affirm  that  there  was  no  neces- 
sity for  that  long  besetment  of  temptation.  Metaphys- 


78  HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY. 

ical  science  says,  "  Resist  the  devil  and  he  will  flee 
from  you."  Yea,  the  devil  of  appetite  for  strong  drink. 
We  have  known  of  cases  cured,  and  we  further  affirm 
that  no  outward  circumstances  without  internal  cure 
will  prove  effective.  So  that  in  the  temperance  reform 
metaphysical  science  is  bound  to  play  an  important 
part. 

The  question  has  often  been  discussed  as  to  the 
length  of  the  term,  if  any,  that  Divine  Providence  has 
affixed  to  the  duration  of  human  life.  The  expression 
(Gen.,  6-5)  "  His  days  shall  bean  hundred  and  twenty 
years,"  has  been  estimated  by  some  to  mean  that  this 
should  be  the  extreme  duration  of  life;  others  have 
thought  that  it  meant  the  average.  It  is  certain  that 
the  duration  of  life  varies  in  different  ages.  Abraham 
lived  one  hundred  and  five  years.  Joshua  died  at  one 
hundred  and  ten.  When  David  wrote  his  Psalms, 
eighty  years  was  considered  an  extraordinary  age.  In 
the  QOth  Psalm,  verse  10,  it  is  recorded  :  "  The  days 
of  our  years  are  three-score  years  and  ten  ;  and  if  by 
reason  of  strength  they  be  four-score  years,  yet  is  there 
strength,  labor  and  sorrow."  However,  there  are  many 
cases  in  our  times  where  persons  have  attained  to  a 
greater  age  than  this,  and  have  passed  their  aged  days 
in  comfort  and  peace.  How  long  man,  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances,  was  intended  to  live,  is  a  mat- 
ter partly  of  observation  and  partly  of  conjecture.  A 


HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY.  79 

distinguished  French  scientist,  P.  Flourens,  says  :  "The 
normal  duration  of  human  life  may  be  treated  in  two 
ways,  as  Haller  and  Buffon  have  done  —  historically  or 
physiologically.  They  sought  historically  what  the 
natural,  ordinary,  and  normal  term  of  the  life  of  man  is, 
and  they  placed  it  between  ninety  and  a  hundred  years. 
They  afterwards  sought,  still  historically,  to  learn  what 
is  the  extreme  limit  of  human  life,  and  Haller  has 
placed  it  at  a  little  less  than  two  centuries.  Buffon 
thought  that  the  total  duration  of  life  could  be  esti- 
mated by  the  period  of  growth."  Now,  if  we  take  the 
limit  of  the  complete  growth  in  man  and  the  following 
named  animals  to  be  as  follows,  we  may  be  able  to 
make  some  intelligent  approximation  as  to  the  natural 
duration  of  life. 

This  completion  takes  place  — 

DUBATION  OF  LIFE. 

In  the  camel  at  8  years.  About  40  years. 


"    "     dog       "   3     "  10  to  12     " 

"     "     cat        "   1  8  months.  9  to  10    " 

Man  is  considered  to  be  about  twenty  years  in  grow- 

ing.    If  from  the  above  table  we  conclude  that  ani- 

mals live  five  times  as  long  as  their  period  of  growth, 

then  may  we  not  conclude  that  man  will  live  five  times 

his  period  of  growth,  which   would  make  the  duration 

of  human  life  one  hundred  years.     But  whether  this  is 


80  HEREDITY    AND    LONGEVITY. 

so  or  not,  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  importance  as  the 
manner  in  which  human  beings  lead  their  lives.  A 
long  life  is  not  so  much  to  be  desired  as  a  life  of  use- 
fulness. Burke  says:  "Old  age,  when  it  has  been  at- 
tained in  the  paths  of  wisdom  and  virtue,  claims  uni- 
versal honor  and  respect."  An  old  age  of  that  kind  is 
to  be  desired,  but  there  are  cases  where  persons  have 
lived  long  whose  career  has  been  one  continued  course 
of  selfishness.  Others  have  had  their  declining  years 
marred  and  made  miserable  by  diseases  and  pains 
which  might  have  been  prevented.  Give  us  health, 
usefulness  and  long  life.  The  metaphysical  healer  will 
bestow  his  time  and  talent  not  alone  in  curing  di- 
seases, but  in  preventing  them  he  will  prevent  the  im- 
pairment of  health  and  the  disturbing  of  the  affections 
and  intellect.  He  will,  also,  as  opportunity  may  occur, 
instil  into  the  minds  of  those  with  whom  he  comes  in 
contact  such  ideas  as  will  improve  them  spiritually,  and 
thus  lead  them  nearer  to  God.  Wealth  is  a  good  thing 
to  have.,  but  too  many  sacrifice  their  lives  and  every 
noble  feeling  of  manhood  to  obtain  it.  Their  cry  has 
been  gold  !  gold  ! 

"Bright  and  yellow,  hard  and  cold; 
Molten,  graven,  hammered  and  rolled; 
Heavy  to  get  and  light  to  hold ; 
Hoarded,  bartered,  bought  and  sold; 
Stolen,  borrowed,  squandered,  doled; 
Spurned  by  the  young,  but  hugged  by  the  old; 
To  the  very  verge  of  the  churchyard  mould." 


HEREDITY  AND  LONGEVITY.  81 

We  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  when  we 
speak  of  longevity  and  its  diseases,  that  mental  and 
moral  diseases  are  often  as  dangerous,  and  sometimes 
more  so,  than  the  so-called  physical  diseases.  In  no 
way  is  this  more  strikingly  exhibited  than  in  the  insane 
craving  for  money,  which  some  aged  persons  display  up 
to  the  edge  of  the  grave.  The  habit  of  grasping  and 
hoarding  has  become  so  strong  upon  them,  that  they 
appear  powerless  to  resist  it.  Of  such  souls  we  should 
say  that  they  have  wandered  far  from  their  Maker,  and 
have  missed  the  true  object  and  aims  of  life.  They 
neither  love  their  fellow  men  nor  their  God.  They  are 
blind,  torpid,  and  are  neither  friends,  lovers  nor  citizens 
of  the  world,  and  can  have  no  sympathy  with  mankind. 
They  know  nothing  of  human  nor  divine  love.  How 
admonishing  in  this  connection  are  the  words  of  Henry 
More  : 

11  But  souls  that  of  his  own  good  life  partake, 
He  loves  as  his  own  self ;  dear  as  his  eye 
They  are  to  Him  ;  He'll  never  them  forsake  : 
When  they  shall  die,  then  God  Himself  shall  die  : 
They  live,  they  live  in  blest  eternity."  „ 

Metaphysical  science  says,  desire  to  live  long,  but 
also  desire  to  live  well.  Good  actions  are  of  more  im- 
portance than  longevity,  but  if  we  live  in  accordance 
with  God's  laws,  both  are  attainable. 


INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  HEALING. 


All  that  we  have  advanced  in  previous  chapters  has 
either  a  direct  or  indirect  bearing  upon  the  subject  of 
the  present  chapter,  and  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that 
the  positions  we  have  taken  should  be  thoroughly  un- 
derstood, otherwise  the  student  is  not  likely  to  meet 
with  success  in  curing  disease,  either  in  himself  or 
others.  The  conviction  must  be  thoroughly  implanted  in 
the  mind,  that  mind  and  matter  are  two  distinct  things, 
whether  matter  is  in  an  organized  or  unorganized  state. 
Next,  that  it  is  mind  only  that  can  feel,  think  and  act, 
and  the  only  thing  in  creation  that  possesses  force. 

For  the  truth  of  this  proposition  we  do  not  rely 
simply  upon  mathematical  demonstration  and  visible 
facts,  but  also  upon  that  which  is  equally  convincing, 
namely,  innate  consciousness.  When  a  person  says, 
"  I  "  have  a  headache  ;  "I"  have  pain  in  the  stomach; 
what  is  the  "  I"  ?  Plainly,  it  is  not  the  head  nor  the 
stomach  that  speaks.  It  is  something  outside  and  in- 
dependent of  these  organs,  for  it  speaks  of  them  as 
being  distinct  from  itself.  Again,  this  "  I  "  says,  "My" 
head  aches,  "  My"  stomach  pains  "me,"  "  My"  hands 


84  INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING. 

are  cold,  "  My"  feet  are  warm.  Here  the  "  I  "  speaks 
of  "  my"  things — that  is,  that  the  "I  "  is  not  these  or- 
gans, but  that  it  owns  them.  They  are  not  me,  but 
mine — that  is,  I  am  something  independent  of  them. 
This  something  is  the  soul. 

The  position  we  take  is,  that  the  body  and  its  organs 
are  but  the  correspondences  of  a  spiritual  body  and 
organs.  These  spiritual  organs  are  the  real  and  last- 
ing, while  the  material  are  but  manifestations,  and  are 
not  lasting.  These  material  manifestations  cannot  con- 
trol the  spiritual,  but  the  spiritual  can  and  does  control 
the  material.  Upon  a  true  understanding  and  convic- 
tion of  this  great  truth  lies  our  success  in  healing. 
Without  this  is  understood,  the  student  must  turn  back 
to  the  contents  of  this  book,  and  become  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  doctrines  and  truths  herein  taught. 

Then,  as  we  speak  of  the  organs  of  the  body  as  being 
distinct  from  the  soul,  so  we  do  of  disease,  and  we  ad- 
dress it  as  such.  If  the  healer  has  a  critical  or  acute 
case  to  treat,  the  patient  should  be  addressed  inaudibly 
as  follows  :  "  You  are  distinct  from  your  body  and  its 
organs.  You  have  nothing  to  fear.  There  is  no  dan- 
ger. 'You'  are  not  sick  ;  'you'  are  deceived."  Then 
the  healer  should  endeavor  to  find  out  the  cause  of  the 
sickness,  so  that  he  can  address  the  disease  by  name, 
and  say  to  it,  "  You  have  no  power  to  afflict  this  soul, 
for  it  is  immortal  and  one  with  God,  and  governed  by 


INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING.  85 

His  unerring  and  unchanging  law  of  love  and  harmony, 
and  there  is  no  discord  in  His  government."  Then,  to 
prove  that  the  patient  is  suffering  only  in  belief,  say 
that  there  is  no  life  or  intelligence  in  matter,  and  that 
the  soul  does  not  dwell  in  matter,  but  only  acts  upon  it 
and  has  perfect  control  over  it,  and  has  it  in  its  own 
power  to  say  whether  the  matter  shall  suffer  or  not. 
Remember,  it  is  mind  acting  upon  matter,  and  not  mat- 
ter upon  mind.  This  proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  in  a 
true  sense  there  is  really  no  illness.  For  as  matter  can 
feel  only  as  the  mind  says  it  can,  and  the  soul  being  per- 
fect and  not  dwelling  in  matter,  does  not  suffer.  Then, 
what  is  it  that  suffers?  It  is  the  mortal  mind,  and  over 
this  the  soul  has  supreme  control  when  you  choose  to 
exercise  it.  The  soul  itself  cannot  be  sick  or  subject 
to  discord  or  error  in  any  way  or  under  any  circum- 
stances, for  it  is  born  of  God  and  subject  to  His  law 
only,  and  if  the  patient  is  not  suffering  from  a  sin 
against  God's  laws,  he  will  speedily  recover. 

In  treating  a  case  of  indigestion,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  prevalent  diseases,  say  to  the  patient  mentally: 
"Your  stomach  is  not  affected,  it  is  in  a  perfectly 
healthy  condition,  and  so  are  all  the  other  organs;  the 
blood  is  pure  and  circulates  perfectly,  and  there  is  no 
inherited  taint  in  the  blood."  If  the  case  is  consump- 
tion, dispute  the  evidence  that  there  is  any  decay  going 
on  in  the  tissues.  Learn,  if  possible,  in  all  cases,  what 


86  INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING. 

is  the  underlying  cause,  and  then  dispute  its  power  to 
do  harm,  and  at  the  same  time  urge  the  patient  to  help 
himself  by  banishing  all  doubts  and  fears  of  his  ulti- 
mate recovery.  It  is  very  difficult  and  almost  impos- 
sible to  cure  a  case  where  the  patient  is  a  stubborn 
doubter  and  has  no  faith  in  God's  power.  He  must  be 
taught  to  have  implicit  faith,  and  urged  to  take  a  brave 
stand  and  express  his  determination  to  recover  from 
his  sickness.  When  these  things  are  accomplished,  the 
recovery  is  only  a  question  of  time. 

The  reason  why  we  address  disease  and  bid  it  de- 
part, as  if  it  was  a  person  and  could  understand  our 
language,  is  that  experience  proves  that  by  so  doing 
the  mind  becomes  more  concentrated  and  gains  in 
power  over  the  disease.  If  we  exhibit  any  weakness, 
doubt  or  want  of  faith  in  treating  disease,  either  in  our- 
selves or  others,  the  disease  will  take  a  firmer  hold  and 
we  are  sure  to  fail.  Our  measure  of  success  will  be  in 
proportion  to  our  possession  of  knowledge  and  faith. 
If  we  doubt  our  power  to  heal,  we  are  doubting  God's 
power,  for  we  are  a  part  of  Him. 

Very  often,  patients  have  a  great  desire  to  discuss, 
and  will  want  the  healer  to  make  it  plain  to  them  how 
cures  can  be  effected.  In  these  instances  it  is  well  to 
cite  them  cures  that  have  been  effected.  Facts  will 
often  prove  effective  when  reasoning  will  fail. 

Many  persons  will   say  that  such  a  thing  is   impossi- 


INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING.  87 

ble.  Arago  said,  "Outside  of  pure  mathematics,  let  no 
man  pronounce  anything  impossible."  Everything  is 
possible  that  is  not  morally  impossible.  The  impossi- 
bilities of  one  age  become  the  possibilities  of  the 
next.  The  old  practitioners  in  drugs  have  pronounced 
it  impossible  to  cure  certain  cases,  but  the  metaphys- 
ical healer  has  cured  many  of  them. 

As  a  general  thing  it  is  wise  to  avoid  discussion  with 
patients,  especially  if  they  should  have  a  stubborn  dis- 
position. To  argue  with  an  obstinate  man  will  only 
cause  him  to  adhere  more  closely  to  his  errors.  In 
these  cases  you  can  only  state  results  and  give  facts. 
Conviction  must  be  left  to  time. 

The  adherents  of  this  science  must  make  up  their 
minds  to  receive  some  amount  of  misrepresentation, 
obloquy  and  even  persecution;  but  it  should  always  be 
remembered  that  he  who  possesses  the  truth  has  a 
mighty  weapon  at  his  command.  One  cure  will  have  a 
greater  effect  upon  the  minds  of  most  people  than  all 
the  logical  reasoning  that  can  be  employed.  Then, 
every  case  which  offers  itself  for  cure  is  certain  to  have 
peculiarities  of  its  own.  What  will  prove  effective  in 
one  case  may  fail  in  another.  But  there  is  a  cure  for 
everything  that  is  curable,  and  the  practitioner  of  this 
science  must  look  upward  and  onward,  never  for  a  mo- 
ment doubting  of  ultimate  success. 

As  the  mind-cure  is  really  but  an   exhibition  of  the 


88  INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING. 

almost  omnipotent  power  which  mind  has  over  matter, 
the  student  should  be  careful  to  master  the  principles 
set  forth  in  the  chapters  of  this  book.  It  is  true  that 
we  know  but  little  of  what  mind  can  do  and  cannot  do; 
but  we  know  of  its  mighty  power  through  witnessing 
its  results,  and  these  results  are  sufficient  to  inspire  us 
with  unbounded  confidence  and  infinite  hope. 

Even  persons  who  have  well  studied  this  system,  and 
practiced  it  with  great  success,  still  confess  that  there 
is  in  it  much  that  they  do  not  understand.  They  can 
neither  comprehend  nor  describe  the  process  of  healing. 
But  there  are  the  facts,  and  no  one  can  dispute  these. 
It  is  not  light  cases  nor  transitory  pains  alone  that  are 
cured,  but  contagious  and  hereditary  diseases  also  have 
been  successfully  treated.  In  some  instances  these 
have  yielded  to  a  few  treatments,  but  sometimes  a  long 
course  of  treatment  has  been  found  necessary.  In 
Charlestown  resides  a  gentleman,  whose  eyes  were  cov- 
ered with  cataracts,  and  who  had  been  told  by  one  of 
the  most  eminent  doctors  of  that  city  that  he  would  be 
blind,  that  nothing  could  help  him.  The  patient  went 
to  a  metaphysical  healer,  at  that  time  being  so  blind 
that  he  could  not  read  the  signs  on  the  street.  After  a 
few  weeks  of  treatment  both  cataracts  had  disappeared. 
Another  lady,  in  Medford,  Mass.,  after  a  treatment  of 
125  sittings,  was  relieved  of  even  a  worse  blindness. 
To-day  there  is  scarcely  a  locality  in  which  cases  of  cure 


INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING.  89 

are  not  found.  Elsewhere  in  this  book  will  be  found 
an  account  of  a  few  of  the  many  cases  which  we  our- 
selves have  successfully  effected. 

Too  much  importance  cannot  be  attached  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  will  in  effecting  cures.  Not  that  the 
will  itself  is  a  curative  agent,  but  it  directs  and  concen- 
trates forces  which  are  healing  agents.  It  also  keeps 
off  evils.  A  person,  to  be  a  successful  healer,  either 
of  himself  or  others,  must  believe  not  only  in  the  power, 
but  also  in  the  freedom  of  the  will.  A  believer  in  the 
necessitarian  or  fatalist  doctrine,  need  never  hope  to 
meet  with  success.  These  people  believe  that  every 
phenomenon  is  a  cause  of  its  invariable  consequent, 
and  also  an  effect  of  its  invariable  antecedent,  and  this 
antecedent  again  is  an  effect  of  its  antecedent,  and  so 
backwards  forever.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  necessity. 
Necessity  is  a  true  doctrine  with  regard  to  some  things, 
and  so  also  is  freedom  of  the  will.  Two  opposites  ex- 
plain and  limit  each  other.  You  could  know  nothing 
of  necessity  without  there  was  freedom,  no  more  than 
you  could  know  anything  of  pleasure,  except  by  recog- 
nizing it  as  the  opposite  of  pain.  Will  is  a  first  cause 
—it  is  self-originating,  hence  its  power.  This  is  one 
of  the  great  weapons  of  the  metaphysical  healer. 
Huxley  truly  says  : — 

"  That  man,  I  think,  has  had  a  liberal  education,  who 
has  been  so  trained  in  youth,  that  his  body  is  the  ready 


90  INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING. 

servant  of  his  will,  '  '  whose  mind  is  stored  with 
a  knowledge  of  the  great  and  fundamental  truths  of 
nature  and  the  laws  of  her  operations  ;  one  who,  no 
stunted  ascetic,  is  full  of  life  and  fire,  but  whose  pas- 
sions are  trained  to  come  to  heel  by  a  vigorous  will,, 
the  servant  of  a  tender  conscience  ;  who  has  learned 
to  love  all  beauty,  whether  of  nature  or  of  art,  to  hate 
all  vileness,  and  to  respect  others  as  himself." 

Experience  has  taught  us  that  although  a  patient 
may  be  fully  cured  of  certain  diseases,  yet  that  these 
diseases  will  return  if  the  patient  is  exposed  to  the  old 
conditions  and  influences.  Hence  it  is  of  the  highest 
importance  that  every  person  who  is  cured  by  this  sys- 
tem should  receive  instructions  how  to  treat  himself. 
Contest  with  disease  is  a  perpetual  battle,  for  it  is  ever 
on  the  watch,  ready  to  attack  the  human  system,  and 
any  fear,  any  admission  of  its  presence,  increases  its 
power.  The  pitying  expressions  of  friends,  such  as, 
"Oh,  how  sick  you  look,"  "You  are  quite  poorly," 
"  You  need  rest,"  "  You  ought  to  consult  a  physician, "" 
have  influences  that  tighten  the  chain  of  disease  around 
patients.  Sick  persons  want  cheerful  expressions  and 
encouragemeut  of  every  kind. 

It  will  frequently  be  found  that  a  patient,  after 
one  or  two  treatments,  will  exhibit  symptoms  that 
might  lead  him  to  believe  that  he  was  in  a 
worse  condition  than  when  the  treatment  began.  It 


INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING.  91 

should  be  explained  to  him  that  this  is  but  a  break- 
ing up  of  old  conditions,  and  a  bringing  them  to  the  sur- 
face in  order  to  expunge  them  from  the  system.  Then 
it  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  moral  treatment 
goes  a  long  way  in  effecting  cures.  Upon  this  subject 
there  are  some  excellent  remarks  in  a  work  written  by 
M.  Reveille-Parise  on  Moral  Therapeutics.  The  au- 
thor says  :  "  If  a  patient  dies  we  open  his  body,  rum- 
mage among  the  viscera,  and  scrutinize  most  narrowly 
all  the  organs  and  tissues,  in  the  hope  of  discovering 
lesions  of  some  sort  or  another.  There  is  not  a  small 
vessel,  membrane,  cavity  or  follicle  which  is  not  atten- 
tively examined — the  color,  the  weight,  the  thickness, 
the  volume,  the  alteration — nothing  escapes  the  eye  of 
the  studious  anatomist.  He  handles,  touches,  smells, 
and  looks  at  everything;  then  he  draws  his  conclusions 
one  way  or  another.  One  thing  only  escapes  his  at- 
tention— that  is,  he  is  looking  at  merely  organic  effects, 
forgetting  all  the  while  that  he  must  mount  higher  up 
to  discover  their  causes.  These  organic  alterations  are 
observed  perhaps  in  the  body  of  a  person  who  has  suf- 
fered deeply  from  mental  distress  and  anxiety  ;  these 
have  been  the  energetic  cause  of  his  decay,  but  they 
cannot  be  discovered  in  the  laboratory  or  amphithea- 
tre. Many  physicians  of  extensive  experience  are 
destitute  of  the  ability  of  searching  out  the  mental 
causes  of  disease.  They  cannot  read  the  book  of  the 


92  INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING. 

heart,  and  yet  it  is  in  this  book  that  are  inscribed  day 
by  day  and  hour  by  hour  all  the  griefs,  and  all  the  mis- 
eries, and  all  the  joys,  and  all  the  hopes  of  man,  and  in 
which  will  be  found  the  most  active  and  incessant  prin- 
ciple of  that  frightful  series  of  organic  changes  which 
constitute  pathology.  This  is  quite  true  :  whenever 
the  equilibrium  of  our  mental  nature  is  long  or  very 
seriously  disturbed,  we  may  rest  assured  that  our 
animal  functions  will  suffer." 

It  must  always  be  remembered  that  we  are  not  treat- 
ing matter,  but  mind.  It  is  mind  affecting  mind,  and 
we  must  aim  to  bring  to  our  aid  all  the  powers  and 
forces  of  our  souls.  We  must  try  to  lift  up  and  cherish 
the  spirit,  so  that  it  will  rise  above  all  discord  and  in- 
harmony.  There  must  be  a  perfect  understanding  of 
these  truths  in  both  healer  and  patient.  There  must 
be  a  mutual  recognition  of  the  influence  that  mind  has 
over  the  entire  human  organization. 

In  his  work  on  Mental  Hygiene,  Dr.  Sweetzer 
says,  "The  influence  of  the  intellect  and  the  passions 
upon  the  health  and  endurance  of  the  human  organiza- 
tion has  been  but  imperfectly  understood  and  appreci^ 
ated  in  its  character  and  importance  by  mankind  at 
large.  Few,  we  believe,  have  formed  any  adequate  esti- 
mate of  the  sum  of  bodily  ills  which  have  their  source 
in  the  mind.  Those  of  the  medical  profession,  even, 
concentrating  their  attention  upon  the  physical,  are  too 


INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING.  93 

prone  to  neglect  the  mental  causes  of  disease  ;  and  thus 
may  patients  be  subjected  to  the  harshest  medicines  of 
the  pharmacopaeia,  the  true  origin  of  whose  malady  is 
some  inward  sorrow,  which  a  moral  balm  alone  can 
reach." 

Now,  although  many  quotations  of  a  like  character 
from  medical  works  could  be  given,  the  healer  in  this 
science  must  not  suppose  that  medical  men  will  endorse 
metaphysical  healing.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
are  ready  with  their  cries  of  "quackery,"  "charlatan- 
ism," "humbuggery,"  and  choice  terms  of  a  like  im- 
port. If  we  can  be  scolded,  ridiculed  and  frightened 
from  our  path,  there  are  numbers  ready  to  perform 
that  task  gratuitously.  Having  put  our  hands  to  the 
plow,  we  must  not  look  back.  If  in  all  cases  the 
healer  does  not  meet  with  instant  success,  let  him  not 
lose  heart.  In  the  path  of  duty  we  require  patience, 
kindness,  knowledge  and  hearts  of  steel,  to  fight  down 
disease,  and  also  the  opposition  of  those  who  desire  to 
make  a  monopoly  of  treating  diseases.  We  must  look 
upward  and  onward. 

"Give  us  the  nerve  of  steel, 

And  the  arm  of  fearless  might, 
And  the  strength  of  will  that  is  ready  still 
To  battle  for  the  right. 

Give  us  the  clear,  cool  brain, 

That  is  never  asleep  or  dozing, 
But  sparkling  ever  with  bold  endeavor 

To  wake  the  world  from  its  prosing. 


94  INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING. 

Give  us  the  heart  to  feel 

The  sufferings  of  another, 
And  fearless  power  in  the  dying  hour 

To  aid  a  suffering  brother. 

Give  us  the  nerve  of  steel, 

And  the  arm  of  fearless  might, 
And  the  heart  that  can  love  and  feel, 

And  the  head  that  is  always  right. 

For  the  foeman  is  now  abroad, 

And  the  land  is  filled  with  crimes — 
Let  it  be  our  prayer  to  God, 
1  Oh  give  us  the  men  for  the  times.'  " 

The  true  healer  must  have  something  of  the  mission- 
ary spirit  in  him  if  he  would  be  successful.  And  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  disease  breeds  suffering,  poverty 
and  crime,  he  can  go  forth  into  the  world  like  a  true 
missionary,  scattering  blessings  amongst  mankind.  For 
these  labors  the  world  expects  to  reward  him,  so  that 
at  least  he  may  be  able  to  live  and  labor.  And,  like  a 
true  missionary,  the  healer  must  not  fail  to  take  into 
account  the  power  of  kind  words  and  acts.  The  worst 
way  to  reform  the  world  is  to  condemn  it,  and  the 
worst  way  to  heal  diseases  and  cure  persons  of  their 
errors,  is  to  condemn  the  individual.  The  old  fable, 
wherein  the  sun  and  wind  disputed  as  to  who  would 
make  the  traveler  take  off  his  cloak,  has  still  a  good 
moral  for  us.  The  wind  blew  its  hardest,  which  only 
caused  the  traveler  to  cling  more  closely  to  his  gar- 
ment. But  the  sun  shed  its  silent  rays  warmer  and 
warmer  upon  the  man,  until  he  quietly  threw  aside  his 


INSTRUCTIONS    FOR    HEALING.  95 

cloak.  Errors  are  garments  that  cling  more  closely  to 
the  person  when  subjected  to  harsh  opposition  and  up- 
braiding, but  will  be  quietly  thrown  aside  when  touched 
by  the  wand  of  kind  treatment.  Even  the  poor  drunk- 
ard may  be  driven  to  his  cups  by  censure  and  contempt- 
uous words.  If  erring  men  are  appealed  to  as  if  they 
were  men,  and  not  despised  brutes,  success  would  more 
frequently  attend  the  efforts  of  the  reformer.  We 
should  never  sit  in  harsh  judgment  upon  the  faults  and 
follies  of  others.  The  anatomist  and  sculptor  tell  us 
that  there  is  no  human  being  that  is  perfectly  formed. 
One  arm  is  longer  or  larger  than  the  other,  one  side  of 
the  body  is  a  little  differently  shaped  from  the  opposite 
one.  Sometimes  the  right  eye  is  different  from  the  left, 
or  the  nose  may  be  a  little  awry.  We  do  not  find 
physical  perfection  anywhere.  So  in  our  moral  nature 
we  can  find  defects  in  every  human  being.  This  should 
teach  us  charity  ;  and  whether  the  disease  be  physical, 
mental  or  moral,  treatment  that  is  based  on  sympathy 
and  kindness  will  prove  effective  when  uncouth  and 
censorious  measures  will  fail.  "A  soft  answer  turneth 
away  wrath,"  when  severity  will  increase  the  flame. 
The  healer  should  recollect  that  his  mission  is  amongst 
the  highest  on  earth.  He  is  a  creator  of  happiness  in 
others,  and  when  he  is  conscious  of  doing  this,  he  him- 
self will  be  reaping  the  highest  blessings  which  it  is 
possible  for  man  to  reap  on  earth. 


PROGRESS. 


What  is  progress  ?  This  question  will  be  answered 
according  to  a  man's  view  of  life,  and  his  belief  in  the 
meaning  and  mission  of  existence.  Progress  with  one 
man  may  mean  an  increase  of  money  ;  with  another  a 
multiplicity  of  books  ;  while  a  third  may  claim  that  it 
means  the  entire  freedom  of  the  individual.  There  is 
no  exact  definition  to  be  given  to  the  word  progress. 
Whether  in  the  individual,  or  in  the  nation,  we  can 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  true  progress  does  not  con- 
sist in  the  accumulation  of  material  wealth.  The  good 
Bishop  Heber  sang  : — 

• '  What  though  the  spicy  breezes 
Blow  soft  o'er  Ceylon's  isle, 
Though  every  prospect  pleases, 
And  only  man  is  vile  !  " 

Let  us  apply  this  truth  to  our  state  and  nation.  What 
though  our  mines  give  forth  their  endless  stores  !  What 
though  the  golden  grain  waves  in  the  breeze  !  What 
though  our  harbors  are  crowded  with  ships  bearing  the 
flags  of  every  nation,  if  the  pale  image  of  woe,  gaunt 
poverty,  and  loathsome  disease  stalk  abroad  in  our 
streets  ?  Progress  cannot  simply  mean  the  building  of 


98  PROGRESS. 

large  ships,  whether  for  commerce  or  for  war  ;  it  cannot 
mean  the  construction  of  forts  and  the  mobilization  of 
armies  ;  it  cannot  mean  even  the  increase  of  learning 
and  science,  if  these  are  to  be  confined  to  a  few.  No  ! 
no  !  True  human  progress  can  only  be  seen  and  exhib- 
ited in  the  growth  of  better  men  and  women.  Men 
and  women  who  shall  not  be  discriminated  against  be- 
cause of  sex  or  material  possessions  ;  men  and  women 
who  shall  stand  equally  before  the  law  written  and  un- 
written, especially  the  latter  ;  for  while  in  some  locali- 
ties the  written  law  is  as  free  for  woman  as  for  man, 
yet  there  is  a  cruel  unwritten  law  in  society  that  con- 
demns woman  to  eternal  infamy  for  the  same  act  for 
which  there  is  little  or  no  condemnation  for  man.  We 
need  not  enlarge  on  this  subject,  as  the  facts  are  plain 
to  be  seen  and  read  of  all  men.  Progress,  to  be  true, 
must  not  be  partial  and  one-sided — it  must  reach  and  in- 
fluence all.  The  whole  tree  must  grow,  and  not  one 
branch  cultivated  at  the  expense  of  all  the  rest. 

Progress  also  consists  in  the  unfolding  of  the  faculties 
of  the  human  soul.  We  say  unfolding,  for  the  reason 
that  the  most  ignorant  savage  is  born  with  the  possible 
faculties  of  the  highest  and  grandest  philosopher  that 
ever  appeared  on  earth.  We  say  "  possible  faculties," 
because  they  are  not  yet  in  existence  in  the  primitive 
man.  The  embryo — the  tendency — are  there,  but  not 
the  things  themselves.  No  person  of  thought  will  con- 


PROGRESS.  99 

tend  that  the  oak  tree,  with  its  trunk,  and  branches, 
and  leaves,  are  in  the  acorn.  But  the  tendency  to  be- 
come these  things  is  there.  So  with  primitive  man  ; 
he  does  not  possess  the  faculties,  even  phrenologically 
speaking,  of  the  cultivated  philosopher,  and  the  latter 
will  perform  acts  that  seem  to  the  savage  like  miracles 
—he  will  even  regard  him  as  a  god;  The  moral  to  be 
learned  from  these  facts,  is  this  :  The  wisest  and  most 
advanced  man  is  still  an  unfolded  and  unfolding  being. 
There  are  faculties  and  powers  in  the  human  soul  that 
our  age  has  not  yet  witnessed.  We  have  been  taught 
to  rely  too  much  for  progress  upon  what  are  called  our 
reasoning  faculties — that  is,  the  faculties  that  can  weigh, 
measure  and  draw  conclusions  from  facts  and  phenome- 
na. But  even  in  our  present  undeveloped  state,  there  are 
evidences  that  men  possess  higher  powers  than  these 
reasoning  faculties.  Kepler  was  a  great  mathematician 
and  a  reasoning  man,  but  he  perceived  or  conceived  of 
the  orbit  of  Mars,  and  by  a  long  process  of  calculation 
and  reasoning  he  proved  the  truthfulness  of  his  percep- 
tion. That  perception  was  simply  the  exhibition  of  a 
power  of  the  mind  that  has  as  yet  received  no  name. 
That  power  in  Kepler's  mind  grasped  at  once  at  a  great 
fact. 

To  say  that  it  was  an  ignorant  guess,  would  simply 
be  a  display  of  the  grossest  ignorance  in  those  who 
would  make  the  remark.  Gilbert  perceived  that  the 


100  PROGRESS. 

earth  was  a  great  magnet,  whose  poles  were  north  and 
south .  The  truth  of  this  perception  has  been  verified 
by  numerous  accurate  observations  and  reasonable  ex- 
periments. Very  many  discoveries  in  all  the  walks  of 
life  have  been  made  by  people  who  did  not  possess  in 
any  marked  degree  these  so-called  reasoning  faculties, 
but  they  possessed  a  power  of  seizing  hold  of  the  truth. 
There  are  other  methods  of  arriving  at  the  secrets  of 
nature  than  by  those  of  the  inductive  and  deductive  pro- 
cesses. As  the  soul  is  unfolded  it  seizes  its  own. 
Upon  the  unfoldment  of  these  other  and  higher  facul- 
ties of  man,  depends  our  progress.  And  in  proportion 
as  we  live  in  accordance  with  God's  laws,  so  will  the 
powers  of  our  soul  become  unfolded ;  or,  in  other 
words,  we  shall  receive  the  influx  of  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  the  divine  spirit. 

Let  us  not  mistake  mere  change  for  progress,  or  we 
shall  be  like  the  good  woman  whose  only  claim  to  the 
title  of  a  progressionist  was  founded  on  the  fact  that 
every  week  she  changed  the  position  of  the  furniture  in 
her  house.  Change  of  government,  of  school  books, 
of  social  relations,  or  a  thousand  other  things,  do  not 
necessarily  imply  progression.  This  must  be  looked 
for  only  in  the  growth  and  expansion  of  the  soul. 
Then  it  is  important  to  know  that  while  we  progress  in 
one  direction  that  we  do  not  retrogress  in  another.  It 
is  a  lamentable  fact  that  while  we  are  compelled  to  ad- 


PROGRESS.  101 

mit  an  improvement  in  many  directions,  we  have  also 
to  confess  that  the  diseases  of  man  have  increased 
to  an  alarming  extent.  And  we  should  recollect  that 
disease  produces  not  only  weakness  and  suffering,  but 
also  poverty  and  crime.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest  drag- 
chains  upon  human  advancement.  Any  plan  or  sys- 
tem of  things  that  will  destroy  or  prevent  disease,  is  so 
far  an  engine  of  progress.  These  powers  we  claim  for 
metaphysical  science.  That  it  possesses  these  powers, 
has  been  demonstrated  in  thousands  of  instances  ;  so 
that  the  healer  and  teacher  in  this  science  is  adding  in 
no  small  degree  to  the  progress  of  mankind.  And  the 
method  by  which  this  is  done  is  the  only  true  and  last- 
ing one — and  just  because  we  do  not  trust  for  man's 
progress  to  an  improvement  merely  of  his  outward  cir- 
cumstances. We  begin  in  the  interior.  No  amount 
of  paint  or  powder  will  put  the  hue  and  color  of  health 
upon  the  cheek.  To  do  this,  we  must  improve  internal 
man.  Put  good  thoughts  into  a  man's  mind  and  you 
will  alter  the  appearance  of  his  countenance,  and  he, 
because  of  the  new  thoughts  and  aspirations  within 
him,  will  seek  to  improve  his  material  surroundings. 
In  proportion  as  we  improve  the  mind  of  man,  in  pro- 
portion as  we  make  the  real  man  healthy,  so  will  a  cor- 
responding improvement  take  place  in  all  the  depart- 
ments of  human  existence.  It  is  thus  we  can  ascend 
the  mountain  peaks  of  hope,  from  whose  lofty  tops  we 


102  PROGRESS. 

behold  the  dawn  of  a  better  day.    We  can  truly  exclaim 
in  the  words  of  another  : 

"A  brighter  morn  awaits  the  human  day, 
When  every  transfer  of  earth's  natural  gifts 
Shall  be  a  commerce  of  good  words  and  works; 
When  poverty  and  wealth,  the  thirst  for  fame, 
The  fear  of  infamy,  disease  and  woe; 
When  war,  with  its  million  horrors  and  fierce  hate, 
Shall  live  but  in  the  memory  of  Time; 
Who,  like  a  penitent  libertine,  shall  start,  look  back, 
And  shudder  at  his  younger  years." 

But  while  we  talk  of  progress,  let  us  not  suppose 
that  it  is  a  thing  that  will  come  of  its  own  accord.  We 
may  pray  for  it,  aspire  to  it,  but  we  must  also  labor  for 
it — labor  for  it  with  head,  heart  and  hand  ;  and  then 
we  can  not  only  hope  for  it,  but  can  command  it. 
Great  reformers  have  always  been  great  workers. 
"Idleness,"  says  the  good  book,  "is  the  rust  of  the 
soul."  Let  all  men  and  women  see  that  they  keep 
their  own  souls  bright,  and  they  will  reflect  happiness 
all  down  the  paths  of  progress. 

"  Work,  while  yet  the  daylight  shines, 

With  a  loving  heart  and  true, 
For  golden  years  are  fleeting  by, 
And  we  are  passing,  too. 

Wait  not  for  to-morrow's  sun 

To  beam  upon  thy  way, 
For  all  that  thou  can'st  call  thine  own 

Is  in  this  one  to-day. 


PROGRESS.  103 


Then  leam  to  make  the  most  of  life- 
Make  glad  each  passing  day; 

For  time  will  never  bring*thee  back 
The  chances  swept  away. 

Leave  no  tender  word  unsaid — 
Do  good  while  life  shall  last; 

You  know  the  mill  can  never  grind 
With  the  water  that  is  past." 


EDUCATION  OF  MOTHERS. 


The  subject  of  maternity  is  one  of  such  transcendent 
importance,  not  only  to  the  parent,  but  to  the  entire 
race,  that  it  seems  marvelous  that  more  has  not  been 
written  about  it.  It  is  true  there  are  difficulties  sur- 
rounding the  treatment  of  the  subject,  but  no  false  mo- 
desty should  teach  us  to  ignore  it  entirely.  Children 
have  rights  as  well  as  adults,  and  have  they  not  a  right 
to  sound  and  healthy  constitutions  ?  How  many  poor 
children  are  ushered  into  the  world  whose  lives,  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave,  are  one  continued  journey  of 
sorrow  and  pain.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  Treatise  on 
Education,  says  :  "  Seriously,  is  it  not  an  astonishing 
fact,  that  though  on  the  treatment  of  offspring  depend 
their  lives  or  deaths  and  their  moral  welfare  or  ruin,  yet 
not  a  word  of  instruction  on  the  treatment  of  offspring 
is  ever  given  to  those  who  will  hereafter  be  parents. 
Is  it  not  monstrous  that  the  fate  of  a  new  generation 
should  be  left  to  the  chances  of  unreasoning  custom, 
impulse  or  fancy,  joined  with  the  suggestions  of  igno- 
rant nurses  and  the  prejudiced  counsel  of  grandmoth- 
ers ?  If  a  merchant  commenced  business  without  any 


106  EDUCATION    OF    MOTHERS. 

knowledge  of  arithmetic  and  book-keeping,  we  should 
exclaim  at  his  folly  and  look  for  disastrous  conse- 
quences. Or  if  before  studying  anatomy,  a  man  set  up 
as  a  surgical  operator,  we  should  wonder  at  his  audacity 
and  pity  his  patients.  But  that  parents  should  begin 
the  difficult  task  of  rearing  children  without  ever  having 
given  a  thought  to  the  principles — physical,  moral 
or  intellectual — which  ought  to  guide  them,  excites 
neither  surprise  at  the  actors  nor  pity  for  their  victims. 
*  *  *  Here  are  the  indisputable  facts  :  that  the 
development  of  children  in  mind  and  body  rigorously 
obeys  certain  laws,  that  unless  conformed  to  by  parents 
death  is  inevitable  ;  that  unless  they  are  in  a  great  de- 
gree conformed  to,  there  must  result  serious  physical 
and  mental  defects,  and  that  only  when  they  are  com- 
pletely conformed  to,  can  a  perfect  maturity  be  reached. 
Judge  then  whether  all  who  may  one  day  be  parents 
should  not  strive  with  some  anxiety  to  learn  what  those 
laws  are." 

It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  there  is  a  decrease  of 
healthy  maternity  among  American  women,  and  in 
some  quarters  there  is  an  increase  of  the  horrible  prac- 
tice of  abortion.  These  evils  must  not  be  laid  entirely 
at  the  door  of  woman,  for  man  is  in  part  their  instiga- 
tor. We  want  to  spread  knowledge,  and  create  a 
healthy  sentiment  on  this  subject.  Even  at  the  ex- 
pense of  not  having  such  fine  horses,  expert  dogs,  and 


EDUCATION    OF    MOTHERS.  107 

fat  pigs,  we  want  a  stronger,  healthier,  better  class  of 
children.  If  one  or  the  other  must  be  neglected,  we 
say  let  the  pigs  go.  Children  are  brought  into  the 
world  inheriting  the  defects,  physical  and  mental,  of 
their  parents.  If  these  evils  can  be  prevented,  is  it  not 
our  imperative  duty  to  do  it  ?  We  shall  thereby  save 
the  world  an  immense  amount  of  misery,  and  also  add 
to  the  future  greatness  of  mankind.  There  is  not  a 
position  in  the  world  so  sacred  as  that  of  being  a  mother. 
It  involves  duties  of  the  very  highest  order,  and  it 
should  be  remembered  that  the  child  is  not  the  exclu- 
sive property  of  its  parents,  for  as  well  as  belonging  to 
them,  it  belongs  to  its  country  and  to  its  God.  It  is  in 
the  power  of  the  mother,  to  a  very  large  extent,  to 
mold  and  make  the  character  of  her  offspring.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  of  pre-natal  condition.  At  these  times, 
by  a  wise  direction  of  her  own  thoughts  and  will, 
guided  by  a  thorough  knowledge  of  metaphysical 
science,  she  can  in  a  great  degree,  determine  the  dispo- 
sition of  her  child.  Fathers,  too,  .should  aim  at  these 
periods  to  keep  the  mother  in  the  happiest  and  calmest 
frame  of  mind.  Violent  fits  of  anger,  and  indeed  ex- 
citement of  every  kind,  should  be  avoided.  Then  in 
after  years,  as  soon  as  reason  has  sufficiently  dawned 
upon  the  mind,  the  child  should  be  taught  to  conquer 
and  treat  itself.  We  have  known  quite  young  children 
to  acquire  sufficient  control  over  themselves  so  as  to  be 


108  EDUCATION    OF    MOTHERS. 

able  to  conquer  pain.  There  is  no  study  that  is  more 
important  to  children  than  the  mind-cure.  A  number 
of  those  infantile  diseases,  such  as  croup,  measles  and 
the  like,  when  not  prevented  can  be  very  much  lessened 
in  their  effects  and  pains,  by  bringing  into  exercise 
by  the  parent  and  child  the  power  which  the  mind  has 
over  the  body.  There  are  many  cases  where  the  dan- 
gerous disease  of  diphtheria  has  been  rendered  compar- 
atively harmless  by  this  mental  application.  Mothers 
should  be  taught  to  know  the  influence  that  mind  has 
over  matter,  and  then  for  the  sake  of  their  children 
they  should  use  that  knowledge. 

What  a  race  of  superior  beings  might  be  produced, 
if  mothers  would  use  the  power  which  God  has  put 
in  their  hands.  Instead  of  having  wives  and  mothers 
in  a  true  sense,  society  is  filled  with  women  who  ap- 
parently care  for  nothing  more  than  to  make  themselves 
milliners'  blocks,  and  objects  of  fashion  and  admiration 
for  the  gaping  crowd.  These  remarks  are  not  intended 
to  disparage  taste  in  dress,  nor  care  for  the  same  ;  but 
we  desire  to  lead  woman,  especially  mothers,  to  higher 
aims  in  life,  and  point  them  to  duties  that  are  of  lasting 
and  eternal  importance. 


SPIRITUALISM. 


The  mind-cure  is  the  most  spiritual  of  all  sciences 
and  systems.  We  have  no  desire  to  enter  into  a  con- 
troversy with  that  large  body  of  citizens  calling  them- 
selves Spiritualists.  We  only  wish  to  set  ourselves 
right  with  them  and  others  by  stating  that  we  neither 
practice  clairvoyance  nor  consult  the  spirits  of  the  de- 
parted when  performing  our  cures.  We  rely  upon  the 
Great  Infinite  Spirit,  God,  alone  for  aid.  We  ignore 
alike  drugs,  magnetism,  clairvoyance  and  the  consulta- 
tion of  spirits.  We  do  not  deny  that  some  of  these 
things  may  afford  temporary  relief,  but  we  doubt  their 
efficacy  in  effecting  permanent  cures.  We  take  the 
position  that  for  effectual  cures  for  disease  we  must 
draw  from  the  Divine  Fountain  of  our  being,  and  this 
we  can  only  do  by  placing  ourselves  in  harmony  with 
God.  It  is  only  by  taking  this  position  that  we  can 
hope  to  succeed.  While  on  this  earth  we  are  as  much 
spirits  as  those  who  have  gone  beyond  the  veil.  And 
Spiritualists  tell  us  that  the  disembodied  spirits  carry 
with  them  the  imperfections  and  errors  acquired  in  this 
life,  and  that  there,  as  here,  are  many  unhappy,. inhar- 


110  SPIRITUALISM. 

monious  spirits.  Of  what  use,  then,  is  it  to  call  for  aid 
upon  those  who  are  like  ourselves  ?  In  this  life,  if  we 
will,  we  can  acquire  the  knowledge  which,  by  the  help 
of  Him  "from  whom  cometh  every  good  and  perfect 
gift,"  is  equal  to  the  cure  of  all  sickness,  sin  and  disease. 
Let  us,  then,  seek  this  knowledge — seek  it  earnestly, 
in  prayer,  in  faith,  in  singleness  of  heart.  Christ  said, 
"  If  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be 
full  of  light/'  We  must  neither  seek  nor  work  doubt- 
ingly,  but  seek  with  unclouded  vision  and  an  eye  single 
to  the  discovery  of  truth  as  it  is,  and  seeking  we  shall 
find,  and  like  the  poor  woman  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
we  shall  be  made  whole. 

We  admit  that  it  is  sometimes  of  benefit  to  lay  hands 
upon  a  patient's  head,  for  the  reason  that  it  concen- 
trates the  mind  of  both  healer  and  patient.  We  recog- 
nize no  benefit  from  the  mere  contact  of  the  hand,  for 
this  would  be  an  admission  that  there  was  a  curative 
property  in  matter.  What  magnetism  is,  we  know  not. 
By  some  it  is  termed  a  fluid,  and  by  others  an  essence 
of  mind.  Certain  it  is  that  it  is  not  mind  itself.  Neither 
do  we  pretend  to  know  what  mind  is,  and  it  may  be 
we  never  shall  know.  There  appears  to  be  a  reason 
why  we  should  not  have  it  in  our  power  to  define  mind. 
Nothing  possesses  the  power  of  self-analyzation.  A 
tree,  a  drop  of  water,  a  grain  of  sand,  cannot  compre- 
hend nor  analyze  themselves.  These  are  all  forms  of 


SPIRITUALISM.  Ill 

matter,  and  matter  cannot  investigate  nor  comprehend 
itself.  Mind  investigates  matter  because  it  is  outside 
and  independent  of  it.  But  mind  cannot  investigate 
its  own  essence  ;  all  it  can  do  is  to  analyze,  point  out 
and  name  its  powers  and  effects. 

Again,  many  Spiritualists  claim  to  have  communica- 
tions from  doctors  in  the  spirit  world,  in  which  they 
recommend  the  use  of  drugs  for  effecting  cures.  Now, 
as  we  entirely  ignore  the  use  of  drugs,  of  what  use 
would  it  be  to  us  to  call  upon  these  spiritual  doctors  ? 
We  haye  quite  a  sufficient  number  of  M.  D.'s  of  that 
stripe  in  this  sphere  of  existence  without  seeking  to  call 
those  back  who  have  left  their  nostrums  on  earth. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MIND  CURE. 


The  mind  cure  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  that  "  new 
method,"  "  the  new-fangled  theory,"  and  "the  modern 
craze,"  as  if  it  was  an  invention  of  these  latter  days. 
The  truth  is,  that  the  mind-cure  is  as  old  as  the  race. 
Read  the  history  of  any  nation,  peruse  the  narratives 
of  all  travelers,  and  you  will  find  that  in  some  form  or 
other  a  belief  in  the  power  of  mind  over  matter,  and  a 
practice  of  mental  healing,  have  always  obtained.  We 
are  aware  that  its  antiquity  does  not  prove  its  truthful- 
ness, but  it  relieves  it  of  the  charge  that  it  is  a  modern 
invention  or  discovery.  At  various  times,  and  amongst 
all  nations,  it  has  appeared  under  different  names.  One 
man  has  claimed  to  be  a  prophet  sent  by  the  Lord  ; 
another,  that  he  was  sent  by  the  angels,  or  was  himself 
an  angel  in  disguise  ;  while  a  third  would  assert  that 
he  possessed  a  key  that  would  unlock  all  the  mysteries 
of  nature.  A  still  larger  number  asserted,  that  while 
they  could  perform  cures  without  study  or  the  use  of 
drugs,  they  knew  not  whence  they  derived  their  power. 
Now,  it  is  the  very  simplicity  of  the  method  that  brings 
it  into  disfavor  with  many  persons,  especially  with  those 


114  ANTIQUITY    OF    MIND    CURE. 

who  have  pored  over  books,  passed*  through  colleges, 
and  spent  much  time  and  money  in  placing  them  just 
where  they  stand.  "  How  can  ignorant  people  effect 
cures,  when  they  with  all  their  medical  skill  and  know- 
ledge fail  ?  The  thing  is  absurd,  impossible  !"  they  cry. 
But  have  not  these  medical  practitioners  a  diseased  no- 
tion of  their  own  importance  ?  Do  they  not  place  an 
exaggerated  estimate  upon  the  value  of  their  learning 
and  facts  ?  Do  they  not  mistake  a  little  information  and 
knowledge  for  true  education  in  the  line  of  their  pro- 
fession ?  Watch  one  of  these  young  students,  fresh 
from  his  medical  college,  after  obtaining  a  diploma. 
If  he  should  have  something  of  the  pedant  in  him, 
which  not  unfrequently  happens,  he  will  take  every  op- 
portunity to  use  his  medical  terms  in  the  description  of 
disease.  Thus  he  will  stand  at  the  bedside  of  a  sick 
child,  and  in  answer  to  the  question  of  the  anxious 
parent  regarding  the  nature  of  the  disease,  he  will  learn- 
edly stroke  his  incipient  beard  and  solemnly  exclaim, 
"  I  observe  a  few  maculce  about  the  face  and  arms,  but 
the  epidermis  seems  to  be  exclusively  involved.  There 
is  some  febrile  movement,  and  we  may  rationally  ex- 
pect a  roseola  within  a  few  hours.  This  case  is  liable 
to  develop  into  rubeola,  with  lac  hry  mat  ion,  ozena,  an- 
gina,  and  all  the  other  symptoms  characteristic  of  the 
disease."  And  pray,  most  learned  doctor,  give  us  an 
English  name  for  that  terrific  disease.  '*  Oh,  ah,  yes  ; 


ANTIQUITY    OF    MIND    CURE.  115 

well,  it  is  the  measles ! "  Thank  you,  for  the  modern 
name  ;  you  can  keep  the  terms  of  antiquity  for  use  on 
some  future  occasion.  There  is  much  in  the  present 
school  of  medicine  that  is  a  huge  collection  of  antiquity, 
hewed  and  plastered  into  some  kind  of  shape,  so  as  to 
make  it  pass  under  the  name  of  "  the  modern  school  of 
medicine."  Read  the  modern  works  on  medicine,  and 
you  find  them  a  conglomeration  of  terms,  of  divers  and 
diverse  opinions,  and  we  are  struck  with  a  feeling  of 
awe  concerning  the  things  which  we  do  not  understand. 
How  applicable  here  is  the  verse — 

"  The  wise  men  of  Egypt  were  secret  as  dummies, 

And  even  when  they  most  condescended  to  teach, 
They  packed  up  their  meaning  as  they  did  their  mummies, 
In  so  many  wrappers  'twas  out  of  one's  reach." 

There  is,  at  least,  about  the  mind-cure,  the  merit  of 
simplicity.  And  this,  we  conceive,  should  be  the  merit 
of  all  systems.  That  which  comes  to  us  so  mystified, 
so  wrapped  around  by  high-flown  words  and  phrases, 
should  always  challenge  our  investigation  if  not  our 
doubt.  Considering  what  he  has  done,  the  world  has 
erred  in  assigning  so  high  a  rank  to  the  mere  medical 
practitioner.  The  system  is  a  gigantic  phantom,  and 
let  the  hand  of  truth  and  simplicity  tear  the  mask  from 
its  face.  Men  have  invented  rules  and  plans  ;  have 
published  volumes  on  the  philosophy  of  life  and  death  ; 
and  their  works  are  replete  with  quotations  and 


116  ANTIQUITY    OF    MIND    CURE. 

adorned  and  dressed  in  grandiloquent  words  and 
phrases  ;  but  just  here  open  your  Saxon  bible  and  see 
the  purity  of  diction  and  the  plainness  of  the  language 
of  a  Paul,  a  John  and  a  James.  We  want  this  same 
simplicity  in  dealing  with  disease.  Let  us  not  ask 
whether  a  thing  has  the  air  of  antiquity  about  it,  or  is 
altogether  of  modern  origin.  Let  the  inquiry  be,  Is 
it  true,  is  it  effective  ?  That,  after  all,  must  be  the 
touchstone.  Of  course  we  have  nothing  to  say  against 
learning  itself,  but  we  object  to  its  use  when  wrapped 
around  errors.  "The  majesty  of  nature  is  the  curtain 
of  deity  ;  and  the  light  of  deity  is  grace  and  truth." 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  stuff  and  nonsense  that  for 
ages  have  done  duty  as  philosophy.  Men  need  to 
be  taught  to  trust  more  and  more  to  their  intuitions.  It 
is  by  these,  more  than  by  learning  and  philosophy,  that 
the  world  has  been  carried  forward. 

"A  few  plain  instincts  and  a  few  plain  rules, 
Among  the  herdsmen  of  the  Alps  have  wrought 
More  for  mankind,  at  this  unhappy  day, 
Than  all  the  pride  of  intellect  and  thought." 

Observation  and  experience  have  taught  us  to 
believe  that  a  few  plain  rules  and  a  few  plain  instincts 
relating  to  the  mind-cure,  will  do  more  for  mankind 
than  the  learned  rules  of  drug-administering  medical 
practitioners. 

In  modern   times  considerable  attention  has    been 


ANTIQUITY    OF    MIND    CURE.  117 

given  to  the  mind-cure  in  the  United  States.  Its  pro- 
gress here  of  late  years  received  its  greatest  impulse 
from  Dr.  P.  P.  Quimby,  a  native  of  Belfast,  Maine. 
Of  this  remarkable  man  Dr.  Dresser,  of  Massachusetts, 
says  :  "He  practiced  his  system  for  the  cure  of  the 
sick  for  many  years  in  Maine,  and  was  located  in  Port- 
land from  1859  to  1865.  Dr.  Quimby  was  a  man 
somewhat  peculiar  in  his  make-up.  With  a  mind  of 
large  comprehension,  he  had  a  wonderful  power  of  con- 
centration of  thought,  and  he  was  so  extremely  practi- 
cal and  mathematical  in  his  mode  of  reasoning,  that  it 
was  with  difficulty  that  he  could  entertain  an  opinion, 
or  any  proposition  that  was  not  fully  demonstrated  by 
truth.  Such  a  mind,  being  of  an  inquiring  nature, 
would  certainly  find  out  the  truth  of  things  if  it  were 
possible,  before  entertaining  a  mere  belief.  I  witnessed 
many  of  Dr.  Quimby's  cures,  of  such  cases  as  paraly- 
sis, cancers,  tumors,  consumption,  rheumatism,  nerv- 
ous disorders  and  other  minor  complaints.  Upon  open- 
ing a  closet  door  in  the  doctor's  rooms,  at  one  time,  I 
saw  an  armful  of  crutches  and  canes  that  had  been  left 
there  by  people  who  had  come  to  the  doctor  in  various 
crippled  conditions,  and  had  gone  away  without  the 
need  of  these  supports.  It  was  viewed  as  a  most 
speaking  sight." 

A  Boston  journal  gives  an  account  of  the  position 
and  advancement  of  the  science  in  that  city  : 


118  ANTIQUITY    OF    MIND    CURE. 

"In  Boston  there  are  four  schools  of  this  system,  and 
all  of  these  hold  as  their  fundamental  idea  that  disease 
does  not  come  from  God,  and  that  He  has  nothing  to 
do  with  its  perpetuation,  but  that  it  is  one  of  the  errors 
of  man  which  can  be  cured  by  truth  ;  the  application  of 
this  truth  is  not  by  faith,  but  by  an  intelligent  under- 
standing. The  schools,  however,  disagree  in  regard  to 
later  developments,  some  claiming  to  be  farther  ad- 
vanced than  the  others.  Of  the  few  heads  of  these 
schools,  one — Dr.  Evans,  now  residing  in  East  Salis- 
bury— is  a  venerable  gentleman  of  60  odd  years  of  age, 
who  was  formerly  a  clergyman  for  twenty-five  years 
before  he  visited  Dr.  Quimby  as  a  patient  twenty-one 
years  ago,  and  following  which  he  left  preaching  and 
practiced  healing  the  sick,  employing  rubbing  and  ma- 
nipulating as  a  part  of  his  system.  Another  leader  and 
head  of  a  school  is  Mrs.  Eddy,  who  resides  on  Colum- 
bus avenue,  and  who  was  a  patient  with  Quimby 
twenty-two  years  ago.  Her  assumed  title  is  Christian 
Scientist,  and  her  followers  bear  the  same  name.  A 
third  is  Dr.  E.  J.  Arens,  residing  at  Union  Park,  who 
practices  and  teaches  under  the  name  of  metaphysi- 
cian. The  fourth  leader  is  Dr.  J.  A.  Dresser,  residing 
on  Columbus  avenue,  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Quimby,  who  fol- 
lows out  his  teacher's  system,  pure  and  simple. 
Besides  these  four  practitioners,  there  are  about  a 
dozen  others  who  practice  the  mind-cure  as  a  profes- 


ANTIQUITY    OF    MIND    CURE.  119 

sion,  and  who  teach  to  classes  of  young  and  old  the 
methods  of  curing.  Generally,  free  instruction  is  given 
once  a  week  to  all  who  will  come.  Among  those  who 
have  attended  these  lectures  are  many  Bostonians, 
who,  though  decidedly  averse  to  having  the  fact  pub- 
licly known,  for  fear  of  ridicule,  yet  are  imbued  with 
faith— some  with  a  little,  some  with  a  great  deal — in  the 
truth  of  the  system,  and  who  often  practice  at  their 
homes  on  the  husband,  father  or  son  who  happens  to 
believe  that  he  is  afflicted  with  a  headache,  toothache, 
or  sore  finger.  And  they  claim  success  in  curing." 

Of  Dr.  Ouimby,  we  remember  when  quite  young,  of 
his  going  round  the  country  effecting  cures  that  were 
looked  upon  by  many  as  being  miracles.  There  was 
an  anecdote  told  of  him,  that  we  think  has  not  before 
found  its  way  to  print : — When  near  Portland,  Maine, 
he  called  at  a  house,  to  the  inhabitants  of  which  he  was 
a  stranger.  He  found  a  middle-aged  man  seated  on 
the  verandah,  and  asked  if  he  could  obtain  a  drink  of 
water.  The  man  replied  that  he  could,  but  as  his  people 
were  away,  and  he  was  lame  from  rheumatism,  that  he 
would  have  to  help  himself.  Quimby  replied,  that  he 
did  not  think  he  was  lame,  and  believed  he  could  walk. 
The  man  saicl,  "  It  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  been  able 
to  walk,  or  even  to  move  about,  except  by  the  aid  of 
crutches."  Quimby  replied,  "  I  realize  that  you  can 
walk  ;  give  me  your  hand."  He  took  the  man  by  the 


120  ANTIQUITY    OF    MIND    CURE. 

hand,  and  caused  him  to  walk  back  and  forth  on  the 
verandah  ;  and  before  he  left  the  lame  man  had  no  use 
for  his  crutches,  and  could  walk  as  well  as  he  ever  could. 
When  his  people  returned,  greatly  to  their  astonish- 
ment, they  found  him  walking  in  the  garden.  He  asked 
Quimby  for  his  name,  but  this  he  refused  to  give,  for 
the  reason  that  he  hated  notoriety.  He  would  "  do 
good  by  stealth,  and  blush  to  find  it  fame."  Of  such 
stamp  was  this  modern  apostle  of  the  mind-cure. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  those  cases  that  have 
come  down  to  us  from  old  times,  wherein  it  is  claimed 
that  the  Lord  sent  down  his  servants  from  Heaven  to 
make  cures,  have  been  made  through  the  influence  of 
mind  acting  upon^mind.  India,  China,  Japan,  Egypt, 
Syria,  even  our  old  Scandinavian  mythology,  are  rich 
with  accounts  of  cases  that  have  yielded  to  this  silent, 
unseen  influence,  when  all  other  means  have  failed. 
Fortunately,  we  have  both  antiquity  and  modern  times 
on  our  side.  But  what  has  been  done  is  only  to  be 
taken  as  an  earnest  of  what  we  can  do. 

"  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widening  with  the  process  of  the  suns." 


EFFICACY  OF  PRAYER. 


What  is  prayer  ?  "It  is  the  heart's  sincere  desire, 
uttered  or  unexpressed."  In  view  of  all  that  we  have 
previously  advanced,  how  much  can  we  reasonably 
hope  from  the  employment  of  prayer  ?  On  this  sub- 
ject mankind  can  be  readily  divided  into  two  classes, 
namely,  those  who  expect  too  much  from  praying,  and 
those  who  flatly  deny  its  utility.  The  monks  of  old 
sang,  Laborare  est  orare — ''To  labor  is  to  pray."  This 
is  worthy  to  be  remembered  by  those  who  would  trust 
everything  to  prayer.  There  are  good  prayers,  and 
there  are  vain,  foolish,  and  even  malicious  prayers. 
The  time  has  come  when  it  behooves  our  churches  to 
look  a  little  more  closely  than  they  have  hitherto  done 
at  the  uses  and  power  of  prayer.  If  there  is  any  one 
time  more  than  another  that  it  is  wrong  to  take  God's 
name  in  vain,  it  is  when  men  pray  to  Him  simply  to 
have  their  own  selfish  ends  answered,  or  that  they  may 
receive  some  benefit  or  blessing  which  they  are  too 
indolent  to  labor  for.  Many,  very  many,  prayers  are 
simply  utterances  of  conventional  blasphemy.  Two 
monarchs  go  to  war,  both  believing  in  the  same  God, 


122  EFFICACY    OF    PRAYER. 

and  they  cause  prayers  to  be  said  in  all  of  their  respect- 
ive churches  for  the  success  of  their  respective  arms. 
Are  these  people  in  a  true  sense  praying  to  God  at  all  ? 
Are  they  not  selfishly  and  savagely  ejaculating  one 
against  the  other  ?  Two  adjoining  farmers  pray  to 
God  ;  one  wants  dry  weather  and  the  other  rain.  Each 
wants  his  selfish  ends  answered  without  regard  to  the 
other's  welfare.  Are  not  all  such  prayers  better  left 
unsaid  ?  Nay,  are  they  not  wicked  prayers  ?  What 
these  people  really  need  is  a  truer  knowledge  of  their 
own  relations  and  duties — and  higher,  nobler  and 
grander  conceptions  of  Almighty  God.  The  Master 
told  us  to  pray  to  the  Father  in  these  words  :  "Thy 
will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven." 

Right  here,  those  who  do  not  believe  in  praye'r  will 
say  :  "  But  will  not  God  do  His  will  without  our  pray- 
ing to  him  ?."  We  answer  that  God  and  the  Universe 
will  do  that  which  is  right  and  proper  for  us  when  we 
supplicate  aright.  Prayer  alone  is  a  useless  thing,  but 
prayer  with  work  in  the  right  direction  is  a  combina- 
tion of  power  that  nothing  can  resist.  There  is  not  a 
man  on  earth  who  does  not,  at  some  time  or  other, 
pray.  An  aspiration  is  a  prayer  ;  and  there  never  yet 
was  a  man  who  aspired  to,  and  prayed  for,  a  good  and 
needed  thing,  that  was  not  drawn  nearer  to  that  good- 
ness, and  its  attainment  thereby  made  more  easy.  Let 
the  inebriate  pray  fervently  and  earnestly  to  become  a 


EFFICACY    OF    PRAYER.  123 

sober  man,  and  he  will  soon  find  his  efforts  and  work  in 
the  direction  of  his  prayer.  Let  a  false,  useless,  worth- 
less man  truly  pray  to  become  manly,  and  true,  and 
good,  and  his  prayer  will  act  like  a  trumpet  calling  his 
energies  to  arm  and  to  battle.  So  that  in  these  direc- 
tions prayer  is  of  incalculable  benefit.  But  we  do  not 
limit  its  uses  to  this  one  power.  May  not  a  true  prayer 
be  an  appeal  to  a  law,  or  to  the  invoking  of  a  law  ? 
We  know  not.  We  find  that  our  own  intense  desires 
are  often  communicated  to  other  minds,  even  without 
our  uttering  a  word.  We  know  not  by  what  process 
this  is  done,  but  we  know  it  to  be  a  fact.  And  there 
are  millions  of  well  attested  facts  in  existence  showing 
that  prayers  have  brought  forth  fruit.  Just  how  far  the 
power  of  prayer  extends,  and  the  effort,  which  is  some- 
thing different,  begins,  we  cannot  tell.  But  we  know- 
that  there  are  two  distinct  forces,  though  we  cannot 
draw  the  line  of  demarcation  ;  just  as  we  know  that 
there  are  distinct  things  in  hill  and  valley,  though  we 
cannot  draw  the  line  between  them.  Let  no  man  scoff 
at  prayer;  he  may  sometimes  say,  "I  do  not  know 
enough  to  believe,  and  I  do  not  know  enough  to  ridi- 
cule." So  far  as  prayer  has  influence  in  the  mind-cure, 
it  may,  for  aught  we  know,  serve  to  concentrate  and  direct 
the  needed  curative  force.  But  we  cannot  hope  for  suc- 
cess until  we  acquire  a  knowledge  of  God's  laws  and 
how  to  apply  them.  Let  us  never  forget  that  all  good 


124  EFFICACY    OF    PRAYER. 

work  is  a  good  prayer.  There  are  cases  where  mere 
words  are  but  a  mockery,  and  in  these  cases  good  deeds 
are  the  only  effective  prayers.  A  prayer  offered  to  a 
hungry,  famishing  man,  would  not  supply  his  wants. 
What  he  would  need  would  be  the  prayer  of  the  Good 
Samaritan. 

"  Give  him  a  lift,  don't  kneel  in  prayer, 

Nor  moralize  with  his  despair  ; 
The  man  is  down,  and  his  great  need 

Is  ready  help,  not  prayer  or  creed. 
'Tis  time  when  the  wounds  are  washed  and  healed 

That  the  inward  motive  be  revealed; 
But  now,  whate'er  the  spirit  be, 

Mere  words  are  but  a  mockery. 
One  grain  of  aid  just  now  is  more 

To  him  than  tomes  of  saintly  lore  ; 
Pray,  if  you  must,  within  your  heart, 

But  give  him  a  lift,  give  him  a  start. 

The  world  is  full  of  good  advice, 

Of  prayers,  and  praise  and  preaching  nice; 

But  the  generous  souls  who  aid  mankind, 
Are  scarce  as  gold  and  hard  to  find. 

Give  like  a  Christian,  speak  in  deeds, 

A  noble  life's  the  best  of  creeds, 
And  he  shall  wear  a  royal  crown 

Who  gives  them  a  lift  when  they  are  down." 

Love,  prayer,  action,  are  the  three  graces  that  must 
go  hand  in  hand  on  the  road  of  humanity.  Each  left 
alone,  will  effect  little  or  nothing.  When  each  is 
genuine,  it  will  link  itself  to  the  others.  These  con- 
stitute the  hope,  the  happiness,  and  the  progress  of  the 
human  race. 


PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE. 


When  we  began  to  investigate  the  claims  of  this 
science,  we  did  so  with  the  determination  of  making 
our  researches  thorough.  We  had  previously  investi- 
gated a  number  of  the  isms  of  the  day,  but  we  could 
find  no  resting  place,  and  were  mentally  starving  for 
something  to  believe  in  and  feed  upon.  The  more  we 
studied  and  thought,  the  more  brightly  the  light  dawned 
upon  us,  and  we  soon  found  that  the  mind-cure  was 
capable  of  doing  all  that  its  most  ardent  advocates 
claimed  for  it.  About  the  first  practical  truth  that  we 
had  of  its  efficacy  was  when  we  were  cured  of  a  case  of 
diphtheria  in  about  twenty  minutes  by  a  lady  who  had 
had  some  experience  in  the  science.  We  then  com- 
menced studying  the  system.  Some  time  after  this  we 
called  upon  a  lady  who  was  suffering  from  neuralgia, 
and  had  been  suffering  from  the  same  excruciating  pain 
at  intervals  for  three  or  four  years'  past.  Periods  of 
suffering  would  afflict  her  sometimes  for  seven  or  eight 
days  together.  When  we  called  upon  her  she  had  been 
suffering  for  about  three  days,  and  during  all- that  time 
had  been  deprived  of  sleep.  On  her  chest  and  sides 


126  PERSONAL    EXPERIENCE. 

were  numerous  mustard  plasters,  which  had  afforded 
her  no  relief.  We  told  her  that  if  she  would  follow 
directions,  and  would  remove  her  plasters,  we  would 
treat  her  for  her  complaint.  This  she  did,  saying  that 
she  would  do  anything  to  get  rid  of  her  pain.  We  then 
gave  her  a  treatment  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  she  felt  almost  free  from  pain,  and 
expressed  astonishment  at  the  result.  That  evening 
she  retired  to  sleep  early,  and  slept  till  9  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  and  rose  refreshed  and  perfectly  free 
from  pain.  W7hen  we  called  upon  her  she  expressed 
great  surprise  at  the  cure.  We  then  gave  her  instruc- 
tions how  to  treat  herself.  The  pain  was  entirely  re- 
moved, and  she  has  repeatedly  said  to  friends  that  she 
would  not  part  with  her  knowledge  for  a  million  of 
dollars.  This  was  about  the  first  cure  we  effected,  and 
this  act  gave  us  more  confidence  in  the  mind-cure  than 
all  the  reasoning  in  the  world  could  have  done.  This 
case,  we  may  say,  was  our  starting  point  as  a  practi- 
tioner. From  that  time  to  this  we  have  met  with 
almost  unvarying  success.  Another  extraordinary  case 
that  we  will  mention,  is  that  of  a  lady  who  had  been 
suffering  for  about  three  years  from  a  complication  of 
diseases  peculiar  to  the  female  system.  She  had  the 
advice  and  experience  of  several  eminent  physicians  of 
San  Francisco,  had  also  placed  herself  under  the  charge 
of  magnetic  healers,  but  in  every  case  without  receiving 


PERSONAL    EXPERIENCE.  127 

any  permanent  benefit.  She  had  given  up  all  hope  of 
ever  getting  well.  On  paying  her  a  visit,  we  found  her 
in  bed,  in  a  desponding  mood.  By  treatment,  argu- 
ment and  entreaty,  we  induced  her  to  get  up  and  walk 
up  to  our  rooms,  where  we  gave  her  further  treatment. 
These  treatments  were  continued  every  day  for  a  week. 
During  this  week  she  admitted  that  she  had  walked 
more  than  she  had  done  for  years  past.  From  the  time 
we  gave  her  the  first  treatment  she  never  had  occasion, 
through  sickness,  to  return  to  her  bed.  In  about  three 
weeks  after  this,  she  had  perfectly  recovered.  We 
taught  her  the  science,  and  she  at  once  commenced 
treating  and  teaching  others.  She  is  now  a  happy  and 
useful  woman. 

Another  case  was  that  of  a  lady  of  about  fifty  years 
of  age,  who  had  been  salivated  when  young,  from  the 
effects  of  which  she  had  never  recovered.  Physicians 
to  whom  she  had  applied,  had  informed  her  that  her 
internal  organs  had  become  so  much  impaired,  that 
that  there  were  no  hopes  of  her  recovery,  and  that  all 
she  could  do  would  be  to  make  herself  as  comfortable 
as  possible.  After  two  weeks'  treatment  we  restored 
her  to  health  and  happiness. 

A  daughter  of  this  lady  came  to  us  to  be  treated  for 
curvature  of  spine  and  some  nervous  trouble.  This 
was  another  case  that  physicians  had  abandoned. 
After  about  fourteen  treatments  she  was  completely 


128  PERSONAL    EXPERIENCE. 

restored  to  health.  This  young  lady  learned  the  science, 
and  is  now  practicing  the  same.  She  forwarded  to  us 
a  few  words  concerning  her  own  case,  with  full  liberty 
to  publish  the  same.  The  following  is  the  communi- 
cation : 

No.  8  BOND  STREET, 

San  Francisco,  June  ist,  1884. 

I  had  been  suffering  from  spinal  disease,  caused 
from  a  fall  when  a  child.  Also  from  torpid  liver,  indi- 
gestion and  general  nervous  debility.  I  had  been 
treated  by  different  physicians,  who  would  patch  me  up 
for  a  short  time,  but  then  I  would  get  back  in  my  old 
plan  again,  when  I  heard  of  Mrs.  J.  A.  Root,  who 
practiced  by  metaphysical  science  the  art  of  healing.  I 
was  treated  by  her,  and  gradually  all  my  pains  and  dis- 
agreeable feelings  left  me.  I  pronounce  myself  cured, 
and  have  learned  the  science. 

Miss  M.  E.  SHEPHARD. 

Another  case  was  that  of  a  lady,  who  called  upon 
us  with  her  husband.  She  had  been  suffering  for  sev- 
eral years  with  pains  in  her  stomach.  She  had  applied 
to  several  physicians,  who  had  given  her  no  relief. 
She  had  also  tried  various  remedies  prescribed  for  her 
by  sympathizing  friends,  but  without  avail.  On  the 
morning  of  her  visit  to  us,  'she  had  been  suffering  ex- 
cruciating pains,  and  was  hardly  able  to  move  about. 


PERSONAL    EXPERIENCE.  129 

On  questioning  her,  we  learned  that  about  six  years 
ago  she  had  eaten  something  that  contained  poison. 
After  a  few  minutes  of  treatment  she  acknowledged 
to  feeling  better.  The  blood  in  her  veins  began  to  cir- 
culate freely.  We  gave  her  in  all  five  treatments,  and 
she  was  completely  restored  to  health.  The  following 
is  a  copy  of  a  letter  received  from  her : 

QUINCY,  PLUMAS  Co.,  CAL., 

May  n,  1884. 
MRS.  J.  ANDERSON  ROOT  : 

Dear  Friend : — I  have  suffered  from  troubles  of  the 
stomach  and  head,  also  nervous  trouble,  for  several 
years,  until  you  gave  me  the  first  treatment,  which  im- 
proved me  greatly.  I  have  taken  five  treatments,  and 
feel  well  and  strong. 

If  this  will  be  of  any  benefit  to  you  or  others,  you 
may  use  it.  Gratefully  yours, 

MRS.  W.  J.  EDWARDS. 

The  following  is  another  testimonial  received  from 
one  of  our  patients  : 

622  ELLIS  STREET, 

San  Francisco,  March  26,   1884. 

After  suffering  a  number  of  years  from  neuralgia, 

and   thinking  my  case  hopeless,    my  attention  was  at 

last  drawn  to  the  new  metaphysical  science  as  practiced 

by  Mrs.  J.  Anderson  Root,  of  San  Francisco,  and  now 


130  PERSONAL    EXPERIENCE. 

I   am  happy  to  say  to   the  public   that  I    was   entirely 
cured  by  that  lady  in  one  treatment. 

MINNA  FRANCES. 

We  will  further  add  that  since  treating  Mrs.  Frances 
we  were  called  upon  to  pay  a  visit  to  her  house,  and 
found  her  son,  a  youth  of  fifteen  years  of  age,  suffering 
severely  from  an  attack  of  pneumonia.  We  at  once 
gave  him  a  treatment,  which  threw  him  into  a  profuse 
perspiration.  He  went  to  bed  and  slept  soundly,  and 
after  awakening,  he  was  restored  to  health.  This  is 
another  fact,  which  is  worth  a  whole  volume  of  reason- 
ing. 

We  add  a  further  testimonial  of  the  efficacy  of  mind- 
cure  : 

No.   707   POST  STREET, 

San  Francisco,  April  26th,  1884. 
MRS.  J.  ANDERSON   ROOT: 

I  desire  to  say,  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  and  the 
advancement  of  the  mind-cure,  that  I  was  suffering  from 
what  was  supposed  to  be  an  incurable  malady.  I  was 
treated  by  several  popular  physicians,  and  also  by  mag- 
netic healers,  but  with  little  benefit.  In  a  fortunate 
moment  you  came  to  me,  and  after  a  few  treatments  I 
was  restored  to  health.  My  cure  seemed  to  me  mirac- 
ulous ;  I  had  given  up  all  hopes  of  recovery. 

Since  that  time  I  have  learned  the   science,  and  am 


PERSONAL    EXPERIENCE.  131 

now  practicing  successfully,  and  God  helping  me  I  shall 
labor  faithfully  in  the  field  of  love  and  truth. 

MRS.  E.  S.  HILL. 

We  have  given  the  above  testimonials,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  parading  our  own  skill,  but  as  so  many  facts, 
proving  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  mind-cure  proved 
effective  where  the  skill  of  the  best  medical  men,  aided 
by  the  power  of  all  the  drugs  in  their  pharmacopoeia, 
has  failed. 


INSANITY. 


No  man  has  as  yet  been  enabled  to  draw  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  sanity  and  insanity.  One  learned 
writer  asserts  that  "all  men  are  at  times  tinged  with  in- 
sanity." It  is  a  common  remark,  upon  speak- 
ing of  something  that  is  beyond  dispute,  that 
"it  is  as  plain  as  your  nose  on  your  face."  But 
though  the  nose  is  plain  enough  on  the  face, 
yet  it  is  not  possible  to  draw  the  line  where  the 
nose  joins  the  face.  We  do  not,  however,  argue  from 
our  inability  to  do  this  that  they  are  not  two  distinct 
things.  So,  from  our  inability  to  draw  the  line  between 
sanity  and  insanity,  we  must  not  contend  that  there  are 
not  two  distinct  conditions  of  mind.  The  use  of  one 
term  to  express  a  condition,  necessarily  implies  the  op- 
posite. Otherwise,  we  are  all  either  sane  or  we  are  all 
insane.  Certain  it  is  that  there  is  always  much  in  the 
world  that  is  termed  insanity  that  is  only  a  high  and 
advanced  form  of  sanity.  Arkwright,  the  inventor,  was 
believed  by  his  neighbors,  and  by  his  own  wife,  to  be  an 
insane  man,  simply  because  he  contended  that  he  could 
invent  a  machine  that  would  do  the  work  of  many  men. 


134  INSANITY. 

Our  own  Fulton,  who  ran  the  first  steam  vessel,  was 
believed  by  very  many  intelligent  persons  to  be  insane 
— and  for  no  other  reason  than  that  he  had  notions 
that  were  contrary  to  and  in  advance  of  their  own.  All 
up  and  down  history  we  find  that  nearly  every  man 
who  had  ideas,  whether  in  poetry,  art,  science,  mechan- 
ics, or  religion,  that  were  in  advance  of  the  ideas  of 
those  around  him,  was  adjudged  by  the  community  as 
being  insane.  How,  then,  can  advocates  of  th&  mind- 
cure  be  surprised  if  now  and  then  they  are  dubbed 
"crazy  people  ?"  That  which  is  the  insanity  of  one  age 
often  becomes  the  admired  sanity  of  another.  After 
all,  we  only  make  approximations  as  to  what  is,  and 
what  constitutes  insanity.  Some  persons  are  deemed 
insane  on  one  point,  and  some  on  another,  while  others 
are  insane  at  one  period  of  time  and  at  other  moments 
are  deemed  perfectly  rational  and  intelligent.  Medical 
men  can  give  us  no  rules  for  guidance  that  are  accepted 
as  final  in  any  court  of  justice,  as  to  what  constitutes 
insanity.  It  is  purely  a  matter  of  opinion. 

Insanity  has  many  causes.  One  man  becomes  insane 
through  the  loss  of  money  ;  the  loss  of  friends,  of  chil- 
dren ;  the  use  of  opiates  and  narcotics  ;  fright,  starva- 
tion, and  many  other  things  and  conditions  have 
reduced  thousands  upon  thousands  to  that  con- 
dition which  we  all  agree  to  call  insane.  That 
it  is  in  some  cases  inherited,  is  placed  beyond 


INSANITY.  135 

a  doubt.  Esquirol  found  among  1,375  lunatics 
337  unquestionable  cases  of  hereditary  transmission. 
Guislain  and  others  regard  that  at  least  one  out  of 
every  four  insane  persons  inherit  the  disease.  Dr. 
Morel  gives  an  account  of  a  family  in  which  he  attended 
four  brothers.  Their  grandfather  had  died  insane, 
while  their  father  had  no  powers  of  concentration,  but 
would  be  constantly  changing  his  mind  from  one  thing 
to  another.  Of  these  four  children  one  was  a  maniac  ; 
another  was  afflicted  with  melancholy  madness ; 
the  third  had  suicidal  intentions  ;  the  fourth  was 
extremely  timorous  and  suspicious. 

Now,  there  must  be  something  rotten  about  our 
boasted  civilization,  or  else  about  our  physical  and 
mental  doctors,  when  this  scourge  is  a  thousand  times 
more  distinguishable  among  civilized  than  among  un- 
civilized nations.  And  there  must  be  something  still 
more  rotten  about  the  system  which  permits  the  hud- 
dling together  in  localities  of  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  these  unfortunates,  and  then  learnedly  calling  it 
treatment  of  the  insane.  Our  asylums  are  but  institu- 
tions for  the  preservation  of  insanity.  The  words 
written  over  the  entrance  to  Dante's  Inferno,  "Leave 
all  hope  behind,  ye  who  enter  here,"  should  be  inscribed 
over  the  gates  of  every  asylum  in  the  land.  How  few 
of  these  unfortunates  are  restored  to  health  and  their 
friends.  Asylums  are  medical  institutions  for  the  in- 


136  INSANITY. 

oculation  of  insanity.  We  have  as  yet  had  no  oppor- 
tunity of  fairly  trying  to  cure  a  case  of  insanity,  but 
when  conditions  can  be  made  favorable,  we  shall  cer- 
tainly try  the  experiment  without  fear  of  the  result. 
We  hope  to  see  the  time  when  the  mind-cure  will  be 
given  as  fair  a  trial  for  treating  the  insane,  as  is  now 
given  to  a  system  of  close  confinement  and  drugs. 
That  the  soul  itself  can  become  insane,  is,  from  our 
standpoint,  an  utter  impossibility — that  it  can  have  its 
origin  in  matter,  is  to  us  simply  an  absurdity  ;  and  the 
men  of  the  lance  and  the  probe  have  never  yet  pre- 
tended that  they  have  discovered  its  cause  in  the  dis- 
arrangement of  the  physical  structure.  In  what  direc- 
tion, then,  shall  we  look  for  it  ?  We  answer,  in  the 
unconscious  mind,  or  in  the  disarrangement  of  that 
condition  of  vitality  and  sensation  that  is  brought  about 
by  the  influence  of  mind  upon  matter. 


NECESSITY  OF  CONDITIONS. 


All  through  the  pages  of  this  book  we  have  sought 
to  make  the  widest  possible  distinction  between  mind 
and  matter.  We  have  also  aimed  to  show  that  the  in- 
visible is  the  only  real  and  permanent  thing  in  the  Uni- 
verse. All  the  mighty  changes  that  are  forever  and 
forever  going  on  around  us  are  simply  the  results  of 
invisible  mind,  which  in  one  direction  or  another  is 
stamping  itself  upon  dead,  dull,  inert  matter.  Hold  in 
your  hand  a  watch,  and  with  its  springs,  levers,  wheels, 
brightly  polished,  finely  adorned  metals,  it  is  a  thing  of 
beauty — a  thing  of  life.  What  has  produced  it  ?  Mind  ! 
That  mechanism  was  once  dull,  shapeless,  inactive 
matter.  As  a  watch,  it  owes  its  existence  to  mind.  So 
it  is  with  our  houses,  ships,  palaces,  monuments, 
machines,  temples,  and  all  things  that  entitle  us  to  the 
name  of  civilization.  A  man  that  we  call  a  sculptor, 
comes  along  with  the  unseen  image  of  the  beautiful 
imprinted  on  his  unseen  mind — he  finds  a  senseless, 
ill-shapen  block  of  marble,  and  upon  this  he  carves  the 
image  of  his  mind.  Behold  the  statue !  WThat  made 
it?  Mind!  Turn  in  what  direction  you  please — put 


138  NECESSITY    OF    CONDITIONS. 

your  question  in  any  form  you  desire,  and  the  answer 
will  still  come  to  you — it  is  mind  !  mind  !  that  produces 
these  mighty  results.  What  is  it  that  animates,  moves 
and  controls  these  muscles  of  the  body — that  makes  the 
eye  to  see,  the  ear  to  hear,  and  the  tongue  to  speak  ? 
It  is  mind,  mind,  everywhere.  Watch  the  silent  stars 
at  night  ;  hear  the  rushing  of  the  cataract;  the  boom- 
ing of  the  ocean  ;  see  the  mighty  forests,  the  gladsome 
flowers,  and  the  countless  forms  of  life  that  everywhere 
prevail,  and  ask  what  produces  all  these  ?  The  answer 
again  comes — it  is  the  mind ! 

"  It  warms  in  the   sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze, 
Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees; 
Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent, 
Spreads  undivided— operates  unspent." 

Now,  although  we  thus  attribute  everything  to  mind, 
and  give  to  it  a  creative,  a  remedial  and  curative  power, 
let  it  not  be  supposed  that  we  entirely  ignore  the  neces- 
sity of  complying  with  conditions  in  order  to  obtain  and 
preserve  our  bodies  and  minds  in  a  healthy  state.  To 
take  such  a  stand  as  that  would  very  justly  expose  us 
to  the  charge  of  fanaticism  or  insanity.  Undoubtedly 
there  are  conditions  which  we  now,  in  our  imperfect 
state,  have  to  comply  with,  that  by-and-by  we  shall 
entirely  ignore.  As  knowledge  increases,  and  as  mind 
is  brought  into  play,  we  can  dispense  with  conditions 
which  we  are  now  compelled  to  comply  with.  We  had 
at  one  time  to  comply  with  the  conditions,  sails,  winds 


NECESSITY    OF    CONDITIONS.  139 

and  currents,  in  order  to  cross  the  ocean.  To-day  we 
have  rendered  these  conditions  unnecessary.  At  one 
time  we  had  to  comply  with  conditions,  ink  and  paper, 
to  send  a  message  to  a  friend  ;  but  unseen  mind  calls 
to  our  aid  an  invisible  agent,  and  lo !  our  old  condi- 
tions are  put  aside.  And  Utopian  as  it  may  seem  to 
many,  we  believe  that  the  age  will  come  when  even 
the  telegraph  will  be  superseded  as  a  condition  of  for- 
warding messages.  Who  will  dare  to  limit  the  power 
of  mind  !  We  shall  one  day  exclaim,  "  Old  things  are 
passed  away ;  behold  all  things  are  become  new." 
There  was  a  time  when  men  could  not  exist  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ocean,  but  now,  with  a  simple  diving  appa- 
ratus, they  can  spend  hours  under  water  without  the 
slightest  injury  to  themselves.  Thus,  one  by  one  man 
is  overcoming  conditions,  and  putting  them  aside  as 
useless  or  harmless. 

These  views  will  apply  to  man  and  his  conditions  of 
health.  There  are  things  and  conditions  relating  to 
man  and  his  organism  that  it  is  now  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  us  to  comply  with,  which  by-and-by,  when  we 
come  to  know  more  and  more  of  mind  and  its  powers, 
that  we  can  completely  ignore.  Until  that  time  arrives 
it  would  be  worse  than  folly  for  us  not  to  inculcate  the 
necessity  of  observing  conditions,  and  of  complying 
with  their  requirements. 

Suppose  by  the  power  of  this  science  we  should  win 


140  NECESSITY    OF    CONDITIONS. 

a  man  from  his  inordinate  craving  for  strong  drink,  we 
do  not  contend  that  if  he  return  again  to  his  cups  that 
the  drink  will  have  no  effect  upon  him — we  do  not  even 
say  that  he  will  never  thereafter  feel  a  return  of  his  ap- 
petite for  liquor.  But  we  do  say,  and  there  are  many 
cases  to  prove  the  truth  of  our  saying,  that  we  can  re- 
move that  appetite  and  give  him  the  knowledge  which, 
if  he  will  apply,  he  can  become  the  master  of  his  appe- 
tite, and  he  shall  never  again  become  its  slave.  He 
can  by  the  power  of  his  own  mind  prevent  himself  from 
falling  into  his  slavish  condition,  and  this  is  a  grander 
and  more  effective  weapon  to  put  into  his  hands  than 
the  strongest  chemical  argument  that  can  be  adduced. 
The  habits  of  the  inebriate  and  some  kindred  cases 
are  peculiar  for  this  reason,  that  these  persons  know 
better  than  they  act — they  '  sin  against  knowledge. 
These  cases,  for  this  very  reason,  require  a  different 
kind  of  treatment.  There  are  cases,  as  everybody 
knows,  of  sickness  and  disease  that  are  the  results  of 
sheer  ignorance,  and  the  patient's  mind  has  only  to 
be  directed  to  the  case,  and  the  requisite  treatment 
supplied  by  the  healer,  for  relief  or  cure  to  be  speedily 
brought  about.  We  do  not  advise  persons  to  rush  into 
miasmatic  and  malarious  districts  in  order  to  prove  that 
the  mind-cure  can  prove  effective  in  the  treatment  of 
fever  and  ague.  We  have  not  yet  learned  that  the 
allopath  recommends  this  course,  in  order  to  prove  the 


NECESSITY    OF    CONDITIONS.  141 

power  of  arsenic  or  quinine.  We  know  that  the  sani- 
tary condition  of  our  cities  and  houses  everywhere  re- 
quires to  be  improved.  Ventilation  in  sleeping  apart- 
ments, especially,  is  in  the  worst  possible  condition. 
Food  is  eaten  that  never  ought  to  be  taken  into  the 
stomach.  The  results  are  disease,  suffering  and  pre- 
mature death.  Against  these  things  we  wage  an  un- 
compromising war.  Our  weapons  are  not  drugs,  for 
this  would  be  but  putting  one  devil  into  the  system  to 
drive  another  out. 

These  are  conditions  that  we  protest  against.  We 
also,  for  the  sake  of  our  common  nature,  protest  against 
the  habits  of  some  medical  men  in  telling  their  patients 
that  their  cases  are  serious,  that  such  an  organ  is 
diseased,  that  the  functions  of  another  are  disturbed, 
and  another  almost  gone.  This  practice  is  as  danger- 
ous, if  not  more  so,  than  the  administration  of  drugs. 
To  our  knowledge,  many  persons'  lives  have  been 
shortened  by  the  remarks  of  these  medical  men.  They 
thus  create  a  condition  worse  than  that  in  which  they 
find  the  sufferer.  Experience  will  bear  us  out  when  we 
say  that  the  most  successful  of  medical  practitioners 
have  been  those  who  have  had  the  most  cheerful  dis- 
positions, and  have  administered  the  fewest  drugs. 
This  is  only  another  way  of  saying,  the  less  poison  and 
the  more  mind-treatment  the  patient  receives,  the  more 
sure  is  his  recovery. 

So  far  from  our  ignoring  conditions,  we  teach  persons 


142  NECESSITY    OF    CONDITIONS. 

to  get  out  of  bad  conditions  as  speedily  as  possible — to 
expose  themselves  to  those  conditions  as  little  as  pos- 
sible ;  but  when  through  exposure,  neglect  or  igno- 
rance, disease  is  contracted,  let  them  not  add  disease  to 
disease  by  the  use  of  poisonous  drugs. 

At  the  moment  of  writing  this,  the  cholera,  supposed 
to  be  of  the  Asiatic  type,  has  made  its  appearance  in 
Marseilles,  Toulon,  Aries,  and  several  other  cities  and 
towns  in  France.  Whatever  may  be  the  immediate 
cause  of  this  disease,  it  is  certain  that  the  most  skillful 
physicians  cannot  agree  upon  the  point.  It  seems, 
however,  to  be  conceded  that  fright  kills  more  persons 
than  the  disease  itself.  Many  have  become  insane 
through  fear,  while  others  have  committed  suicide. 
This  is  another  proof  of  the  effect  of  the  mind  upon  the 
body.  A  public  journal,  in  commenting  on  this  sub- 
ject, says  :  "There  is  little  if  any  danger  of  a  healthy 
man  with  a  strong  mind  being  affected  with  the  epi- 
demic. It  is  fear  that  causes  some  persons  to  contract 
the  disease,  and  it  is  fear  that  kills  others."  So  that, 
in  concluding  this  chapter  on  conditions,  we  remark 
that  by  far  the  greatest  of  all  conditions  in  warding  off 
disease  of  any  kind,  and  in  curing  the  same,  is  the  con- 
dition of  the  mind  itself.  This  is  both  a  bulwark  and 
a  weapon.  Let  all  persons  seek  to  use  it.  An  even 
mind  and  a  firm  and  resolute  will  are  worth  all  the 
drugs  in  the  universe  for  the  prevention  and  cure  of 
disease  of  any  and  all  descriptions. 


QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS. 


It  is  hoped  and  believed  that  the  following  informa- 
tion, put  into  the  form  of  questions  and  answers,  will 
be  of  considerable  use  to  the  students  of  metaphysical 
science,  and  impress  upon  their  minds  certain  facts  and 
truths  which  it  is  important  for  them  to  know. 

WHAT  IS  GOD? 

God  is  the  divine  intelligence  that  creates,  upholds 
and  governs  all  things.  He  is  self-existent — had  no 
beginning  and  can  have  no  ending.  He  is  the  great 
Fountain  of  Mind  from  which  all  other  minds  derive 
power  and  intelligence.  He  is  not  separated  from  the 
work  of  His  hands,  but  "lives  through  all  life  and  ex- 
tends through  all  extent."  Neither  is  he  separated 
from  man,  but  will  at  all  times  hearken  to  the  cry  of 
those  who  seek  Him  aright.  The  idea  that  God  made 
this  world  as  a  mechanic  makes  a  machine  and  sits 
apart  to  watch  its  operations,  is  a  crude  idea  and 
worthy  only  of  barbarous  ages.  God  is  in  His  works. 
He  is  never  idle,  but  is  ever  breathing  the  breath  of 
life  into  and  through  all  animate  things.  As  a  single 


144  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS. 

lamp  will  light  a  million  tapers  without  being  in  the 
least  diminished,  so  countless  billions  of  souls  emanate 
from  God  without  diminishing  His  power. 


WHAT  IS  TRUTH  ? 

In  one  aspect  truth  is,  as  Locke  remarks,  an  affair 
of  language.  Two  persons  witness  an  event ;  one  uses 
language  and  relates  the  event  just  as  it  occurred,  but 
another  uses  words  that  convey  things  that  are  not  like 
the  occurrence.  The  one,  we  say,  speaks  the  Truth, 
the  other  speaks  falsely.  The  word  fact  is  often  used 
erroneously  for  the  word  truth.  It  is  time  to  insist 
upon  the  proper  use  of  these  words.  A  fact  is  a  thing 
done,  and  a  thing  that  exists  or  has  existed.  Thus  it 
is  a  fact  that  such  a  man  as  Washington  existed  ;  it  is  a 
fact  that  grass  is  green  ;  it  is  a  fact  that  thousands  were 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo  ;  but  we  cannot  prop- 
erly call  these  facts  truths.  In  brief,  we  may  say  that 
facts  are  things  as  they  exist,  and  occurrences  ;  truth 
is  the  exact  relating  of  these  things  as  they  exist  and 
occur.  But  a  truth  may  also  be  a  principle,  an  inherent 
quality,  a  tendency — a  something  that  has  never  taken 
place  or  been  acted  out.  Friar  Bacon  is  said  to  have 
invented  gunpowder  ;  let  us  rather  say  that  he  was  not 
an  inventor,  but  a  discoverer  of  qualities  or  principles 


QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS.  145 

inherent  in  certain  chemical  substances.  He  found 
that  if  nitre,  charcoal  and  sulphur  were  mixed  in  certain 
proportions,  that  the  mixture  would  form  a  certain  com- 
pound called  gunpowder.  Now,  if  Friar  Bacon  had  not 
discovered  the  making  of  gunpowder,  would  it  not 
have  been  true  that  these  mixtures  would  still  have 
formed  that  compound  ?  If  their  relations  had  not 
been  discovered  for  500  years  hence,  would  it  not  still 
have  been  true  that  they  would  have  made  gunpowder  ? 
The  same  things  can  be  said  of  dynamite,  or  any  other 
chemical  compound.  Principles  are  truths,  whether 
they  are  carried  out  into  fact  or  not.  This  is  also  true 
of  moral  and  mental  principles.  They  are  all  equally 
truths,  whether  man  applies  them  or  not.  The  Bible 
says,  that  "a  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath  ;"  but  if  all 
men  up  to  this  date  had  given  harsh  answers  to  wrath, 
would  not  that  saying  still  have  been  true  ?  Read  the 
Beatitudes  in  the  Fifth  Chap.  Matthew — they  are  eter- 
nally true,  whether  man  acts  upon  them  or  not.  Their 
truth  does  not  depend  upon  the  point  of  .their  being 
exhibited  in  an  act. 

Here,  then,  we  see  that  truth  is  a  different  thing  from 
a  fact.  It  exists  before  the  fact,  and  is  independent  of 
it.  Truth  is  an  emanation  from  God,  and  whether  man 
discovers  these  truths  or  not,  or  whether  he  acts  upon 
the  truth  when  discovered,  or  declines  to  do  so,  it  is  still 
eternal  truth,  It  is  safe  to  say  that  principles,  or  the 


146  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS. 

rays  of  truth,  are  streaming  in  every  direction  around 
us,  and  in  proportion  as  we  discover  them  and  act  upon, 
so  do  we  become  truthful  and  Godlike. 


WHAT  IS  CREATION  ? 

It  is  the  outward  and  visible  manifestation  of  an  in- 
ward creating  intelligent  power.  It  is  the  precipitation 
of  the  divine  mind.  It  is  the  unfolding  and  blossom- 
ing of  the  thoughts  of  God.  So  far  as  the  creation  of 
this  earth  is  concerned,  it  had  a  beginning  ;  but  so  far 
as  the  boundless  universe  is  concerned,  it  had  no  begin- 
ning. Creation  is  a  river  that  has  flowed  eternally — 
it  is  flowing  now,  and  will  forever  continue  so  to  do. 

The  work  of  Creation  is  never  finished,  for  God 
creates  for  ever  and  for  ever.  Evolution  is  not  opposed 
to  creation,  but  rather  adds  strength  and  wonderment 
to  it.  Assume,  if  you  choose,  that  many  of  the  forms 
of  life  which  we  see  were  evolved  from  a  single  germ, 
it  only  increases  our  wonderment  that  a  germ  should 
possess  so  many  amazing  potentialities.  This  only 
adds  grandeur  to  the  eternal  Creator  for  having  so  mar- 
velous a  power  as  to  endow  a  small  thing  with  such 
wonderful  unfolding  powers  and  possibilities. 

Astronomy  proves  to  us  that  worlds  are  still  in  pro- 
cess of  formation,  and  are  being  fitted  for  life  and  the 


QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS.  147 

abode  of  man.  Nature  is  more  than  it  seems  to  us— 
more  than  this  world,  which  is  but  a  small  bubble 
floating  on  a  shoreless  sea  of  space.  If  any  person 
thinks  that  this  earth  is  the  only  place  in  the  universe 
that  is  fitted  up  for  the  abode  of  intelligent  beings,  then 
that  person  accuses  Nature  and  God  of  having  created 
.countless  worlds  and  suns  in  vain.  As  soon  as  men 
learn  that  this  earth  is  but  one,  and  by  no  means  the 
largest  body  moving  round  the  sun,  and  that  worlds 
and  suns  are  infinite  in  number,  then  their  ideas  of 
Creation  will  expand,  and  they  will  have  more  exalted 
notions  of  God,  the  Creator. 


WHAT  IS  MIND? 

Mind  is  the  exact  opposite  of  matter.  It  has  a 
dynamic  power  over  matter.  As  clay  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  potter,  so  is  matter  in  the  control  of  mind.  It 
is  not  matter  that  fashions  and  controls  mind,  but  it  is 
mind  that  shapes  and  governs  matter.  Undoubtedly 
there  are  laws  governing  mind,  but  as  yet  we  know 
nothing  of  them.  We  see  and  feel  its  power — we  know 
of  its  many  and  varied  operations  ;  but  we  do  not  know 
all  that  it  can  do,  nor  yet  what  it  cannot  do.  It  is  im- 
mortal in  its  essence.  It  is  an  emanation  from  God. 
It  is  that  which  receives  and  retains  impressions  both 


148  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS. 

consciously  and  unconsciously,  so  that  we  may  be  said 
to  have  a  conscious  and  unconscious  mind.  When 
harmonious  impressions  are  made  upon  the  mind  the 
results  are  health  and  happiness  ;  when  those  impres- 
sions are  discordant  they  produce  pain  and  disease. 
How  careful  then  we  should  be  in  subjecting  ourselves 
to  impressions. 


WHAT  IS  MATTER? 

It  is  that  which  possesses  neither  feeling,  intelligence, 
force,  nor  power  of  motion.  See,  side  by  side,  the 
living,  warm,  active  man,  and  the  motionless  corpse. 
The  one  lifts  an  arm,  it  gestures,  it  speaks,  it  feels,  its 
numerous  senses  are  keenly  alive  to  external  things. 
But  the  other !  Speak  to  it,  move  it,  dissect  it,  but  it 
hears  not,  it  feels  not,  it  manifests  no  thought.  Why 
not  ?  There  are  all  the  organs — it  has  a  brain,  nerves, 
muscles,  the  same  as  the  other,  but  it  is  only  matter. 
That  which  alone  can  feel,  think  and  act,  is  not  there. 
What  language  can  make  it  plainer  that  matter,  even 
when  organized,  has  in  itself  no  feeling,  motion  or  in- 
telligence. All  that  we  know  of  matter  is  by  certain 
properties,  such  as  form,  size,  color,  weight  and  so 
forth.  So  far  as  the  eye  is  concerned  we  have  only  a 
surface  knowledge  of  it.  Take  a  cube  of  wood  into 


QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS.  149 

the  hands,  and  you  see  its  various  sides.  Cut  it  in  two, 
and  in  each  piece  you  still  see  only  the  surface  of  the 
parts.  And  however  often  you  may  divide  it,  it  is  still 
surface,  and  surface  only  that  you  behold.  However 
large  or  small  the  piece  may  be,  this  fact  still  holds 
true  of  it.  Now,  though  matter  is  considered  by  some 
to  be  the  only  substantial  and  lasting  thing  in  the  uni- 
verse, yet,  in  truth,  it  is  restless,  fleeting,  and  unsub- 
stantial. It  is  for  ever  and  forever  undergoing  change. 
The  globules  of  water  in  ocean,  lake  and  river;  the 
particles  of  the  impalpable  ether;  the  atoms  of  the 
granite  mountain,  are  never  at  rest,  but  are  silently 
changing — imperceptibly  to  the  eye  it  may  be,  but  still 
they  are  never  at  one-millionth  part  of  a  second  the 
same  as  they  are  at  the  immediately  preceding  part. 
That  which  we  call  decay  is  only  chemical  change,  and 
this  decay  overtakes  all  things.  Everything  of  which 
we  have  knowlenge  or  can  conceive,  is  eternally  grow- 
ing, decaying,  changing.  The  eye  sees  the  chains  of 
mountains,  the  firm  rock  that  for  thousands  of  years 
hath  withstood  the  lashings  of  mighty  waves,  but  these 
are  ever  changing. 

"  Like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision, 
The  cloud-capped  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces, 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself, 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherits  shall  dissolve, 
And,  like  an  unsubstantial  pageant  fade, 
Leave  not,a  rack  behind." 


150  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS. 

As  the  clay  is  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  so  is  visible 
matter  in  the  power  of  invisible  mind.  And  while  this 
matter  passes  away,  mind  endureth  for  ever.  What 
has  been  said  respecting  matter  has  not  been  to  deny 
its  existence  ;  to  do  this,  as  an  author  remarks,  would 
be  an  act  of  lunacy.  We  are  only  desirous  of  showing 
that  the  common  notion  about  matter  is  an  erroneous 
one. 


WHAT  IS  EVIL? 

Evil  is  an  opposing  force  to  that  which  is  good,  but 
it  is  not  an  equal  force  with  goodness.  Some  persons 
call  evil  undeveloped  good.  If  so,  undeveloped  good 
is  evil,  and  often  for  the  hour  or  the  day  it  has  more 
than  the  force  of  that  which  is  good.  But  evil  is  not 
lasting  ;  it  passeth  away.  But  truth  and  goodness  pos- 
sess an  inherent  force  and  immortality  of  their  own. 
Evil  cannot  destroy  evil ;  this  can  only  be  done  by 
truth.  Darkness  cannot  banish  darkness ;  this  can 
only  be  done  by  light.  Man  possesses  the  power  of 
overcoming  evil  by  using  the  weapon  of  Truth,  which 
God  has  placed  in  his  mind  and  soul.  Evil  is  unhar- 
mony.  The  word  harmony  is  thought  by  many  to  be 
restricted  to  sound.  Sir  Thomas  Browne  says  :  "  There 
is  a  music  in  beauty,  and  the  silent  note  which  Cupid 


QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS.  151 

strikes  is  far  sweeter  than  the  sound  of  an  instrument." 
Byron  speaks  of  "  the  mind,  the  music  breathing  from 
the  face."  When  we  speak  of  the  music  of  the  spheres, 
we  mean  the  harmony  of  form  and  motion.  Physical 
harmony  in  the  human  body  means  a  just  and  harmo- 
nious relation  between  all  its  parts  and  forces.  Take 
the  two  extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  Either  of  these  in 
excess  will  destroy  the  body,  but  when  they  are  in  a 
harmonious  relation,  the  body  is  in  health.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  labor  and  rest. 

When  we  act  in  accordance  with  law  we  are  in  har- 
mony with  it.  We  are  one  with  it.  The  patri- 
arch Jacob  was  said  to  be  "  one  with  God" — that 
is,  he  acted  in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  God,  and 
so  are  we  "one  with  God"  when  we  act  in  harmony 
with  His  physical  and  moral  laws.  When  we  do  not 
act  in  harmony  with  these,  then  so  far  our  acts  are 
evil.  The  aim  of  the  mind-cure  is  to  destroy  evil  by 
producing  harmony,  and  to  bring  every  sinful  man  back 
to  the  laws  of  God. 

Further,  the  would-be  definition  that  "  evil  is  unde- 
veloped good "  is  apt  to  lead  people  astray.  Others 
have  defined  evil  as  being  "  nothing  in  itself — a  mere 
negation  of  positive  good,  the  same  as  cold  is  in  itself 
nothing  but  a  mere  absence  of  heat."  This  analogical 
reasoning  is  often  false,  and  should  always  be  intelli- 
gently used.  If  by  saying  that  cold  is  only  the  absence 


152  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS. 

of  heat  it  is  meant  to  imply  that  it  is  not  a  positive 
force,  then  the  assertion  is  plainly  false.  In  itself  it 
may  be  a  nothing,  or  a  mere  negation,  but  it  is  such  a 
negation,  when  in  a  state  with  something  else,  as  to 
have  all  the  force  of  that  which  is  a  positive.  If  cold 
is  nothing,  cold  air,  cold  water,  cold  earth  are  posi- 
tive things.  Cold  air,  sweeping  over  a  lake,  will 
cover  its  surface  with  ice.  Cold  air  will,  if  intense 
enough,  destroy  life.  The  air  warmed  by  the  rays  of 
the  sun,  sweeping  over  the  lake,  wrill  melt  that  ice. 
Again  the  air  becomes  cold,  and  again  the  ice  is  formed. 
Are  not  both  agents  positive  in  producing  positive  re- 
sults ?  So  with  good  and  evil.  Call  evil,  if  you  will, 
a  mere  negation,  or  only  the  absence  of  good,  but  when 
that  evil  is  combined  with  force  it  has  all  the  power  for 
the  time  being  of  positive  good.  The  arm,  when  out- 
stretched by  the  force  of  goodness,  will  minister  peace 
and  comfort  to  the  suffering  and  needy  ;  but  the  same 
arm,  when  uplifted  by  the  force  of  evil,  will  bring  suf- 
fering, and  even  death. 


WHAT  IS  TIME? 

Perhaps  there  is  no  word  in  more  constant  use  than 
the  word  "time."  How  few  who  ask  themselves  what 
it  means.  Mention  the  word  time  and  the  eyes  are  in- 
stantly turned  to  the  clock.  But  if  all  the  clocks  and 


QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS.  153 

watches  were  put  out  of  existence,  if  all  the  hour- 
glasses and  sun-dials  were  destroyed,  if  the  earth 
should  be  consumed  by  fire,  the  sun  cease  to  shine,  and 
every  particle  of  matter  resolved  into  impalpable  ether, 
time  would  still  exist — would  still  follow  on  as  it  ever 
has  done  and  must  ever  continue  to  do.  Time  is  not 
a  force — it  is  only  a  condition  in  which  forces  exist  and 
operate.  It  is  a  common  saying  that  "time  teaches  him 
who  has  no  teacher";  but  it  is  not  time  that  teaches  us, 
but  the  events,  the  facts,  the  experiences  and  troubles 
that  occur  in  time  that  make  an  impression  upon  us  and 
teach  us.  Time,  as  we  have  before  said,  is  not  a  force 
in  itself,  and  can  produce  nothing  and  can  exert  no  in- 
fluence. Schopenhauer  very  finely  says:  "Time  flies 
over  things,  but  leaves  no  trace  upon  them."  Causes 
operate  in  time,  and  produce  the  changes  which  are 
erroneously  attributed  to  time,  as  if  the  latter  was  a  force 
in  itself.  Cities  have  become  deserts,  luxurious  soils 
and  dwelling-houses  and  temples  have  been  buried 
deeply  beneath  burning  sands.  Where  now  the  icy 
regions  hold  fast  in  their  embrace  eternal  solitude  and 
silence,  geology  proves  to  us  that  the  most  gorgeous 
plants  once  thrived  and  blossomed  in  thermal  regions 
of  light,  life  and  beauty.  See  the  aged  man  whose 
head  is  silvered  with  straggling  hairs;  mark  the  furrows 
in  his  cheek  ;  look  upon  the  crumbling  Parthenon  ;  the 
Roman  monuments  falling  to  dust ;  the  massive  and 


154  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS. 

lofty  Pyramids  silently  but  surely  shrinking  away,  and 
ask  if  it  is  time  that  is  the  operator.  No,  it  is  the  sun, 
the  rain,  the  wind,  the  laws  of  nature,  which  are  never 
idle,  that  are  working  these  changes.  Time  is  the  ele- 
ment, the  condition  in  which  these  forces  operate  ;  but 
time  has  no  force  of  its  own — it  is  not  a  force  at  all. 
We  pretend  to  measure  time  by  clocks  and  watches, 
but  these  things  after  all  are  but  mechanical  instru- 
ments made  to  perform  certain  revolutions  ;  and  by 
their  agreement  one  with  another  we  are  enabled  to 
regulate  our  own  movements  one  with  another  ;  but 
these  instruments  are  not  time  itself,  nor  the  true 
measure  of  time.  Let  a  man  suffer  intense  pain,  let 
his  mind  be  held  in  suspense  in  anticipation  of  some- 
thing, and  what  we  call  five  minutes  is  to  him  an 
hour.  So  far  as  time  is  related  to  us,  and  so  far 
as  we  can  measure  its  duration,  we  can  only  do  this 
by  the  soul — by  the  intensity  of  the  unseen  life  with- 
in us. 

"  We  live  in  deeds  not  years — in  thoughts  not  breaths — 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 

Count  time  by  heart-throbs;  he  lives  most  who  feels  most, 
Thinks  the  noblest,  acts  the  best." 

Time  is  neither  a  force  nor  a  thing — it  can  do  noth- 
ing of  itself.  Time  is  a  condition  in  which  the  soul 
acts. 


NECESSITY    OF    CONDITIONS.  155 

WHAT  IS  RELIGION? 

Many  answers  have  been  given  to  this  question. 
According  to  Quatrefages,  religion  is  a  "belief  in  beings 
superior  to  man,  and  capable  of  exercising  good  or  evil 
influences  upon  his  destiny  ;  and  the  conviction  that  the 
existence  of  man  is  not  limited  to  the  present  life,  but 
that  there  remains  for  him  a  future  beyond  the  grave." 
Whatever  definition  we  may  try  to  give  it  will  be  found 
more  or  less  incomplete.  The  metaphysical  healer,  in 
dealing  with  the  Bible,  gives  to  it  a  spiritual  signifi- 
cance, while  many  look  at  it  entirely  from  a  material- 
istic standpoint.  It  matters  not  so  much  to  us  what  is 
religion,  as  what  are  religious  acts.  Christ  went  about 
healing  the  sick,  and  if  we  do  the  same  we  know  that 
we  are  thus  far  on  the  road  of  religion.  We  have  un- 
bounded faith  in  God,  and  that  while  we  implicitly 
trust  in  Him  we  can  never  go  religiously  wrong. 


WHAT  IS  SPACE? 

Space  is  boundless  and  eternal.  It  is  a  sea  without 
limit,  without  shores.  In  it  all  things  swim  and  float. 
Without  space  no  real  existence  is  possible,  and  it  is 
only  as  things  occupy  different  positions  of  space  that 
we  can  distinguish  one  from  another.  Space  is,  and 


156  QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS. 

must  of  necessity  be,  infinite.  We  may  cast  our  minds 
thousands  of  miles  and  billions  of  leagues  away,  but 
imagination  is  compelled  to  stop,  tired  with  its  flight. 
Let  it  again  take  flight  billions  of  billions  of  leagues, 
and  we  find  some  impediment  to  its  flight.  What  is 
that  impediment  ?  Is  it  a  solid  substance  ?  How  far 
does  that  stretch  onward  ?  Does  it  end  ?  What  then 
is  beyond  that  ?  The  mind  is  wearied — it  returns  to 
itself  and  asserts  that  there  can  be  no  boundary  to  space, 
above,  below,  to  the  right,  to  the  left  ;  in  any  and  in 
every  direction  it  stretches  on  for  ever  and  for  ever. 
Comprehend  this  we  cannot,  believe  it  we  must. 
Wherever  we  go,  whether  in  body  or  mind,  eternal 
space  and  its  twin  brother  time  are  our  companions. 
The  one  is  the  illimitable  ocean,  the  other  is  the 
illimitable  atmosphere,  that  are  below,  above,  and  every- 
where surrounding  us. 


WHAT  IS  SCIENCE? 

It  is  a  common  thing  for  people  to  use  the  word 
Science  without  having  any  definite  knowledge  of  what 
it  means.  In  brief  it  is  only  another  word  for  knowl- 
edge. When  this  knowledge  is  classified  and  directed 
to  some  particular  end,  then  we  give  that  science  a 
name.  Thus  we  have  the  science  of  Botany,  of 


QUESTIONS    AND    ANSWERS.  157 

Astronomy,  of  Conchology,  and  so  forth.  John  Stuart 
Mill  says  :  "  The  language  of  science  is,  this  is  so,  and 
this  is  not  so.  Science  observes  phenomena,  and 
endeavors  to  discover  their  law."  Professor  Huxley 
says  :  "  True  science  and  true  religion  are  twin  sisters, 
and  the  separation  of  either  from  the  other  is  sure  to 
prove  the  death  of  both.  Science  prospers  exactly  in 
proportion  as  it  is  religious,  and  religion  flourishes  in 
exact  proportion  to  the  scientific  depth  and  firmness  of 
its  basis.  The  great  deeds  of  philosophers  have  been 
less  the  fruit  of  their  intellect  than  of  the  direction  of 
that  intellect  by  an  eminently  religious  state  of  mind. 
Truth  has  yielded  herself  rather  to  their  patience,  their 
love,  their  single  heartedness,  and  their  self-denial,  than 
to  their  logical  acumen."  In  corroboration  of  this  view 
we  instance  the  science  of  metaphysical  healing  as  also 
a  religion,  or,  to  speak  more  definitely,  it  is  a  branch  of 
religion.  When  some  persons  hear  of  cures  by  the 
mental  treatment,  they  ask  :  "  But  do  you  use  any 
scientific  methods  ?"  We  answer  :  "  This  is  a  science, 
and  though  its  phenomena  are  not  so  well  known  and 
classified  as  in  the  case  of  some  other  sciences,  it  is  nev- 
ertheless none  the  less  a  science  on  that  account.  As 
a  science,  it  has  effected  cures  where  other  scientific 
methods  have  failed." 


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